The 46-year-old was jailed and banned as a company director after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering following investigations by the Insolvency Service
A London fraudster has been jailed after illegally securing three Bounce Back Loans and using the funds to buy and ship goods to Ghana for resale.
Eric Agyeman obtained £130,000 in three Bounce Back Loans for DOK Logistics UK Ltd when businesses were only entitled to a single loan under the scheme.
Agyeman invented turnover figures of as much as £375,000 when the company never actually traded.
The 46-year-old then used more than £40,000 of the Bounce Back Loans to fund a separate business scheme in Ghana, where he would send goods from the UK to an associate in the West African country and receive commission on the sales.
Agyeman, of Mace Street, London, was sentenced to two years and two months in prison at the Old Bailey on Tuesday 9 September after pleading guilty to offences of fraud and money laundering.
He was also disqualified as a company director for five years.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Eric Agyeman brazenly exploited a scheme designed to help struggling companies during the pandemic for his own personal gain, using the funds for a business operation in Africa.
Agyeman’s admission that he simply ‘made up’ turnover figures shows a complete disregard for the taxpayer-funded support that was meant to keep legitimate businesses afloat during the most challenging period in recent economic history.
It may now be more than five years since the start of the pandemic, but the Insolvency Service remains committed to pursuing fraudsters who obtained Covid support funds they were not entitled to and ensuring that justice is served.
DOK Logistics UK Ltd was set up on Companies House in February 2020, with its nature of business described as “other transportation support activities”.
However, Insolvency Service investigations revealed that the company was not trading at the beginning of March 2020, as was required to qualify for Covid support funds.
Indeed, there is no evidence that the company ever traded.
Agyeman first applied for a Bounce Back Loan of £30,000 in early May 2020, on the first day the scheme opened.
In the application, he falsely claimed that DOK Logistics UK Ltd’s estimated turnover was £120,000.
Just nine days later, he applied to a different bank for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, this time stating that the company’s estimated turnover was £275,000.
Agyeman’s third fraudulent application came in July 2020, when he provided an estimated turnover of £375,000 to secure another £50,000 Bounce Back Loan.
In interviews with the Insolvency Service, he acknowledged the turnover figures were made up, admitting he “took it for granted” and “didn’t really put much emphasis into thinking about the figures” and that “it’s just something I just made up.”
Even if Agyeman’s estimated turnover figures were accurate, businesses were only entitled to a single loan under the terms of the scheme.
A total of £44,415 of the fraudulently obtained funds was channelled into buying goods that were then transported to his contact in Ghana for onward sale, generating commission payments back to Agyeman.
The money from goods sold in Ghana would be converted to British pounds locally, and visitors to the UK would physically bring this cash back to him.
Insolvency Service investigators also concluded that other unexplained payments were not for the economic benefit of DOK Logistics UK Ltd.
The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
The Insolvency Service is a government agency that helps to deliver economic confidence by supporting those in financial distress, tackling financial wrongdoing and maximising returns to creditors.
The Insolvency Service is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade.
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Journalists with enquiries can call the Insolvency Service Press Office on 0303 003 1743 or email [email protected] (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
For any out of hours media enquiries, please contact the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) newsdesk on 020 7215 2000.
