London Business Owner Jailed for Bounce Back Loan Fraud
A London fraudster has been sentenced to prison after fraudulently claiming three government-backed Bounce Back Loans during the Covid-19 pandemic and using the funds for personal business ventures overseas.
Eric Agyeman, 46, secured a total of £130,000 by fabricating turnover figures for a logistics company that had never traded. The loans were intended to provide emergency support to genuine businesses impacted by the pandemic, but Agyeman instead channelled more than £40,000 into a separate scheme exporting goods to Ghana for resale.
Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, Agyeman admitted to fraud and money laundering offences. He was sentenced at the Old Bailey on 9 September to two years and two months in prison and was disqualified from serving as a company director for five years.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
“Eric Agyeman brazenly exploited a scheme designed to help struggling companies during the pandemic for his own personal gain, using the funds for a business operation in Africa. Agyeman’s admission that he simply ‘made up’ turnover figures shows a complete disregard for the taxpayer-funded support that was meant to keep legitimate businesses afloat during the most challenging period in recent economic history. It may now be more than five years since the start of the pandemic, but the Insolvency Service remains committed to pursuing fraudsters who obtained Covid support funds they were not entitled to and ensuring that justice is served.”
Investigators found that Agyeman applied for his first £30,000 loan on the very day the scheme opened in May 2020, claiming an estimated turnover of £120,000. Within nine days, he made a second application to a different bank for £50,000, inflating the turnover to £275,000. A third application in July 2020 secured him another £50,000 by claiming an even higher turnover of £375,000.
Despite these figures, there was no evidence that Agyeman’s company, DOK Logistics UK Ltd, had ever traded. In interviews, he admitted the numbers were fabricated, saying: “It’s just something I just made up.”
The Insolvency Service is now pursuing recovery of the funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.