Sheffield man was given a £50,000 Covid loan despite not being eligible

A Sheffield man has been sentenced after taking out a £50,000 Covid recovery loan for a business he set up.

In July 2020, James Todd applied for and received a £50,000 ‘Bounce Back’ loan for a business called Pro Detailing. He claimed the business had a turnover of £255,000 so was eligible for the maximum loan amount.

However, there is no evidence that Pro Detailing was ever traded. Todd received the money in mid-July and spent all but £245 on personal purchases by the end of the month.

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The 37-year-old used some of the money to replace his car. Todd has now been jailed for 18 months suspended for two years for fraud at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday 20 May.

He was also ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and pay compensation of £2,000 at a rate of £100 per month.

David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “James Todd made up the turnover for a completely fictitious business which was not trading when the pandemic started because he had a full-time job.

“Todd then used the loan entirely for personal purposes, upgrading his car and selling the previous vehicle in just a few weeks.

“This was taxpayers’ money and the Insolvency Service will not hesitate to take action against those who have so blatantly stolen from the public purse.”

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It follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service which found that Pro Detailing was not trading and that Todd, of Milnrow View in Sheffield, had a full-time job at the start of the pandemic and when he made his loan application. They found that Todd had transferred £32,500 of the funds into his own personal account within six days of receiving the loan.

He withdrew £1,250 and transferred £16,500 to associates over the same period. Analysis of Todd’s bank account found he made two payments totaling £11,929 to a car finance company for his BMW and sold his old car for £5,220 earlier this month August.

Todd accepted a ten-year undertaking on bankruptcy restrictions in June 2022, which prevented him from being able to borrow more than £500 without disclosing his bankruptcy status. This also means that he cannot act as a company director without the permission of a court.