Balloon business owner banned for 9 years after Bounce Back Loan fraud

Rebecca Simmons was a director of Tia-Bella Limited, trading from premises in Queen Street, Wolverhampton.

The company, a specialty balloon and gifts retailer, was incorporated in March 2019 but just over two years later in July 2021, Tia-Bella entered into creditors’ voluntary liquidation. Tia-Bella’s insolvency, however, triggered further inquiries from the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that Ms Simmons had applied for a Bounce Back Loan in May 2020, a loan from the government to support viable businesses during the pandemic, but received funds far greater than what Tia-Bella was entitled to.

Ms Simmons had exaggerated the company’s turnover claiming it to be £180,000 and received a £45,000 loan.

But investigators uncovered that based on available records, Tia-Bella’s annual turnover was a maximum of £1,300. This meant Tia-Bella was not entitled to even the minimum Bounce Back Loan of £2,000.

Further inquiries uncovered that in the space of two months, Ms Simmons caused the company to make payments worth just over £31,000, including a £10,000 directors’ loans, £10,000 towards a company car, and £10,000 worth of repayments of deposits incurred before the pandemic.

Ms Simmons was unable to provide supporting documents, which left investigators unable to confirm whether the £45,000 Bounce Back Loan benefited the business or not.

On 4 August 2022, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, accepted a nine-year disqualification undertaking from Ms Simmons after she did not dispute that she caused Tia-Bella Limited to apply for a government-backed Bounce Back Loan the company was not entitled to.

Effective from 25 August, Ms Simmons is banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Tia-Bella’s liquidator is considering the Bounce Back Loan and recovery of funds.

Lawrence Zussman, deputy head of Insolvent Investigations, said not only did Ms Simmons grossly exaggerate the company’s turnover to secure a loan she shouldn’t have gotten a single penny of, but Ms Simmons also went onto use the funds on activities she couldn’t even justify as benefiting Tia-Bella.

“Rebecca Simmons conduct fell extremely short of the standards required of a company director and has been removed from the corporate arena for a significant amount of time,” he said.

“Her nine-year ban should serve as a clear warning that if you abuse government support, we will use our full powers to bring you to account.”