False claim for £50k Covid loan
THE owner of a Southport business falsely claimed a £50,000 government loan during the pandemic.
Belinda Bakerman, who opened Bella’s Ice Cream, on Lord Street, submitted a claim for the maximum amount available from the Bounce Back Loan scheme, despite her shop not being eligible. Her business should have only been awarded a fraction of that amount.
A large amount of the £50,000 was also transferred to a company owned by a relative, despite this being against the rules.
LancsLive reports almost none of the money was repaid by the time the business was liquidated, with as little as £1,000 being paid back.
Bakerman has now been hit with a 10 year ban from running any company. The government launched the BBL scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic as a way to help small and medium-sized businesses firms survive the loss of trade.
Businesses such as Bella’s had suffered a complete loss of trade during lockdown and then continued to struggle afterwards. However, there were rules in place including a maximum amount of 25% of annual turnover available and the requirement for the money to spent only for the benefit of the business.
In the application, Bakerman falsely claimed the company was set up in March 2019 to take advantage of the loan and said turnover would be £200,000 when applying in March 2020. This would entitle Bakerman to 25% at £50,000.
However, an investigation by the Insolvency Service found that the business had been incorporated in December 2018 and the accounts showed a turnover of £52,000 between March 2019 to 20. Meanwhile, bank analysis shows receipts of just £31,000 for that period.
In the application, Bakerman, of Sherringham Road, claimed the turnover was based on projections of plans to move into a cafe style business despite the company not being allowed to use projections in the application. In a letter from the Insolvency Practitioner dated February 17, 2023, it states that ‘the director has accepted that the turnover was overstated in the BBL application’.
The investigation also found that the money was paid into the firm’s account on May 19, 2020, leaving a credit balance of a little under £55,000. Over a two week period in June, some £32,000 was paid into an account held by an associated limited company.
According to the Insolvency Service, “no evidence has been provided to show this was for the economic benefit of BIC, as required”. It also found that at liquidation in October 2021, £49,000 of the £50,000 BBL remained outstanding.