Covid: Sheffield woman 'blatantly abused' bounce back loan scheme to claim £98,000

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A Sheffield woman who “blatantly abused” a Covid business support scheme to claim £98,000 in loans she was not entitled to has been punished

Hannah Walker, aged 31, claimed two bounce back loans for baking business Something Sweet, which only ever traded for two weeks and was not entitled to any money.

Her scam was discovered when she was made bankrupt in March 2024, with both loans still outstanding and total debts of £109,000.

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The Official Receiver’s duties include investigating the cause of a bankruptcy.

Hannah Walker claimed two separate Covid bounce back loans she was not entitled to.Hannah Walker claimed two separate Covid bounce back loans she was not entitled to.
Hannah Walker claimed two separate Covid bounce back loans she was not entitled to.

Samantha Crook, Deputy Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said: “Hannah Walker blatantly abused a scheme designed to support existing businesses during one of the toughest times the country faced.

“She breached the rules of the scheme by taking out not one, but two loans, for a business that was not even eligible for a loan.

“These restrictions will curtail her business activities for a long time to help protect the public from further financial harm.”

Walker is now subject to 12 years of stringent sanctions.

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A report from the Official Receiver states she was originally a hairdresser but launched a baking business during lockdown in May 2020.

The following month she applied for a £50,000 bounce back loan claiming its turnover was £256,000.

The next day she applied to a different bank for another loan of £48,000.

Under the rules, businesses must have been trading by March 1, 2020 to apply for a loan.

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Walker signed a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking in which she did not dispute that she had provided false information on two loan applications.

Her punishment includes 12 years of bankruptcy - which is normally 12 months - a ban on being a company director and from borrowing more than £500 without declaring that she is subject to the sanctions.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted the undertaking on January 14, 2025. The restrictions run until January 13, 2037.

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