ICSM Business News: the mind bogglingly high sums fraudulently claimed in Covid support loans as a director of a print related company is nicked for claiming £50K

By Harry Mottram: Depending on who you believe fraudulent Covid support claims could be as high as £17 billion pounds and rising once lost interest and inflation is taken into account. The £17bn figure is from the Government’s own National Audit Office and includes not only fraudulent applications but also legitimate businesses that defaulted on their loans after becoming insolvent.

It comes as the print industry online publication Print Week’s Jo Francis reported on a packaging supply Bradford firm’s director Juiliano Akeel Hussain who claimed £50,000 for his Rupert Design & Packaging business set up in 2019. The Insolvency Service smelled a rat since the firm’s turn over didn’t match Hussain’s claims and especially when he also asked for further loans of nearly £100,000 for a related business. Again, the sums didn’t add up and The Insolvency Service prosecuted the businessman. He was disqualified from being a director for 13 years reported Jo Francis. She said: “The Insolvency Service also said that he had failed to evidence or satisfactorily explain what had happened, and had not preserved or delivered adequate accounting records.”

Ian Carrotte of ICSM – the business credit intelligence membership group – said the Government created a fraudsters’ charter with the Covid support loans as the banks who administered the loans were not liable if they were not repaid. He said: “I accept the Government had to act fast to help industry survive Covid but they could have put more responsibility onto the banks instead of the taxpayer having to pick up the tab for fraud. It’s been another example of how Covid has cost the country huge sums of money which have to be written off. Governments like to lecture businesses on how to run – but this is another case of mismanagement in Whitehall and Downing Street.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ICSM CREDIT
For information on ICSM visit www.icsmcredit.com or call 0844 854 1850.
ICSM, The Exchange, Express Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 4RR. Tel: 0844 854 1850. www.icsmcredit.com. Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com

About ICSM Credit

ICSM Credit has more than four decades of experience as a credit intelligence group whose members gain inside information about firms in trouble allowing them to avoid bad debts and rogue traders. To join costs less than a tank of fuel - while at the moment there's a special free temporary membership offer during the Covid-19 crisis which gives access to free legal letters. ICSM also has an effective debt collecting service which has a global reach - ask for details from Paul.

For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.

To keep up to date subscribe to the FREE ICSM Credit Newsletter to hear all the latest insolvency news and to see who has gone out of business click on the orange panel on the top left of the home page of the website www.icsmcredit.com or send an email to Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com

For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk