Insolvency Service tackles further Bounce Back Loan abusers

In separate applications, Junaid Dar (31), from Birmingham, and David Michael Godderidge (40), from Tamworth, falsely applied for close to £60,000 from the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, intended to support businesses during the pandemic.

In Mr Dar’s case, the Insolvency Service began to investigate his conduct after his company, JDarPT Ltd, entered into liquidation in July 2021.

Investigators uncovered that Mr Dar legitimately applied for a Bounce Bank Loan after he submitted accurate financial statements and in May 2020, received £13,000.

However, Mr Dar also applied for additional loans by applying to two separate financial institutions. The company received in total a further £32,500 in loans that it was not entitled to.

Mr Dar is now banned from running companies for 11 years, effective from 27 April 2022.

Mr Godderidge applied for his own bankruptcy in October 2021 and declared himself as a self-employed roofer.

While assessing Mr Godderidge’s assets to make payments to his creditors, the official receiver uncovered in September 2020 that he had provided incorrect information to obtain a Bounce Back Loan far greater than he was entitled to.

The self-employed roofer had instructed a third party to make the loan application on his behalf using inflated turnover figures before spending the £13,000 Bounce Back Loan on gambling in just three weeks.

Due to the risk he posed to other creditors, the official receiver sought to extend Mr Godderidge’s bankruptcy restrictions. His bankruptcy undertaking extends his restrictions for seven years and means he is limited to what credit he can access, and he cannot act as a company director without the permission of the court.

In both cases, the liquidator and trustee in bankruptcy are assessing Mr Dar and Mr Godderidge’s abilities to repay the funds and will pursue if they have the means.

Sue Macleod for the Insolvency Service, said Bounce Back Loans were made available for trading businesses adversely affected by the pandemic and were issued based on accurate financial statements.

Both Mr Dar and Mr Godderidge cynically applied for loans far greater than they were entitled to and clearly thought they could get away with it. Thankfully our interventions uncovered their abuse and their restrictions will prevent them from abusing their position in the future.