Paying the price of Bounce Back Loan fraud

Almost two years after being convicted of Bounce Back Loan fraud, Sameer Saeed, Director of Digital Business Box Ltd, has been forced to sell his BMW and London flat to repay in full the money he received.

Saeed fraudulently secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan (BBL) in 2020 by claiming that his company’s turnover was £200,000 when, by his admission during the investigation, the actual figure was closer to £60,000.

In December 2022 following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, he was found guilty of spending the money on personal expenses, including the BMW, and applying to dissolve his business less than two weeks after applying for the loan.

During the investigation by the Insolvency Service, Saeed said the money from the loan had been used to pay off personal debts and to provide for his family.

However, the Insolvency Service determined that it had been used for personal gain and brought confiscation proceedings against Saeed, which forced the fraudster to first sell the BMW and then his flat.

As a spokesman for the Insolvency Service commented, Saeed “cynically accessed emergency Covid support scheme funds by overstating his turnover and then applied to have his company struck off in the same month.”

He added that it was obvious he had never planned to use the money for the economic benefit of his business.

Investigators at the Insolvency Service worked hard to identify Saeed’s assets “as part of their commitment and determination to recover money lost to the public purse.”

Commenting on the case, Roger Isaacs, National Technical Director of NIFA, said: “In this case, there were no real efforts made to cover up the fraud and even the most basic forensic investigation seems to have been enough to take action against Saeed.

“His actions were clearly in breach of the criteria for making a claim – as the company was quickly dissolved – and the overstating of the company’s turnover would have quickly been discovered with a quick check of the accounts.

“It is clear that the Government is taking action to try and recover the money lost to fraud, but despite confiscation proceedings like this, it is unlikely that all of the public funds lost to criminals will be recovered.”

Sources: Insolvency Service