Company boss jailed for £80,000 Covid loan fraud

A company director has been jailed after he "exploited" a scheme designed to help struggling businesses through the Covid pandemic by £80,000.

Temidola Ojelabi, 43, of Glossop Street, Derby, spent the money on online trading platforms, the Insolvency Service said.

He falsely claimed two support loans in 2020 as company director of Platinum Gates Limited and used the funds for personal investments.

On Wednesday, Ojelabi was sentenced at Derby Crown Court to two years and four months for fraud by false representation and was barred from acting as a company director for eight years.

The Insolvency Service said Ojelabi had received the funds through the Bounce Back loan scheme, which was set up in April 2020 with the aim of keeping small businesses afloat during the pandemic.

Ojelabi said his company was an e-commerce venture and would buy and sell goods from various warehouse premises.

Money paid in loans was transferred to Ojelabi's personal account within eight days, the Insolvency Service added.

In interviews, Ojelabi accepted he took out the Bounce Back loans but denied this was done fraudulently.

Platinum Gates Limited, which was set up in 2018, with Ojelabi as the sole director, went into liquidation in 2021, with both loans unpaid, the Insolvency Service said.

David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Temidola Ojelabi exploited a scheme designed to support small and medium-sized businesses through the pandemic, securing two Bounce Back loans when you were only allowed one.

"Two different turnover figures were given on each application, and the funds were not used for the economic benefit of his business - a fundamental requirement of the scheme.

"Instead, money was spent on online trading platforms. Ojelabi's actions showed a complete disregard for taxpayer money and the rules designed to support legitimate businesses."

The service is now seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

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