Bounce Back Loan fraudster jailed following Insolvency Service investigations
Raja Imtiaz obtained two Bounce Back Loans for his travel company in 2020, despite businesses being entitled to only one loan under the scheme
Imtiaz dishonestly claimed on his second application that it was his only loan request when he had already received the first £50,000 payment
The 52-year-old has been jailed and disqualified as a company director following investigations by the Insolvency Service into his fraudulent actions
A Blackburn tour operator has been jailed after securing two maximum-value £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loans when businesses were only entitled to one.
Raja Imtiaz fraudulently applied for a second Bounce Back Loan on behalf of Al Fayroz Travel & Tourism Limited in the summer of 2020, just two weeks after securing another £50,000 loan for the company.
Imtiaz, of London Road, Blackburn, was jailed for two years and two months at Preston Crown Court on Thursday 18 September.
The 52-year-old was also disqualified as a company director for six-and-a-half years.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Raja Imtiaz exploited a scheme designed to support small businesses during the pandemic.
The rules of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme were crystal clear - businesses were only allowed a single loan.
Imtiaz's dishonesty has landed him behind bars and serves as a warning that the Insolvency Service will relentlessly pursue fraudsters who so cynically abused Covid support schemes.
Al Fayroz Travel & Tourism Limited was established in October 2017. Imtiaz was appointed as director in November 2019.
The two Bounce Back Loan applications were made to separate banks in late June and early July 2020.
Imtiaz fraudulently declared on the second application that it was his only application for a Bounce Back Loan for the business.
In interviews with the Insolvency Service, Imtiaz claimed that he had only made the second application because he was concerned that the first loan request had not been approved.
Investigators discovered that this was dishonest as Imtiaz had already received the first £50,000 at the time of this second application.
