Businessman sentenced for £95,000 COVID-19 Bounce Back Loans fraud

An entrepreneur was sentenced today (3 March 2025) after having been convicted of fraudulently obtaining two COVID-19 Bounce Bank Loans to a value of over £95,000.

Craig Gibson, 45, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment suspended for two years at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted of fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position of trust, for submitting two fraudulent applications for loans from a government scheme set up to support businesses during the pandemic.

On two occasions, Gibson submitted fraudulent applications for the loans. On one application, he used his mother’s name and business, without her knowledge, to obtain a £50,000 loan. Once received, he used the funds for his personal use.

On the second occasion, he used his own company - Gibson Bowers Ltd - to apply for another loan of £45,412. Once the loan was authorised and his company bank account was in receipt of the funds, most of the funds were not used for the legitimate trading activities of the company or to settle any of its liabilities, but transferred to Gibson’s personal account whereby they were used for third party payments or cash withdrawals.

After an investigation making use of HMRC records, it was clear that Gibson’s company was not trading during between the years of 2019-2021, and this showed that Gibson had exaggerated his company’s turnover to enable him to fraudulently apply for the maximum amount of loan and then used the majority of the funds obtained to support his personal lifestyle.

He pleaded guilty and was convicted of two fraud related counts:

• Fraud by False Representation (£50,000) in relation to Combined Developments Liverpool Ltd on 22/11/2023.
• Fraud by abuse of position (£45,412) in relation to Gibson Bowers Developments Ltd on 13/12/2023.

Arslan Khan of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said, “Craig Gibson took advantage of a government system designed to protect and support businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than using the funds for legitimate business purposes, Gibson diverted them for his own personal use and to fund his lifestyle.

“The CPS and investigative agencies will continue to pursue fraudsters who dishonestly enriched themselves from government support grants and loans.  

“The CPS Proceeds of Crime team will now commence confiscation proceedings to ensure Gibson does not financially benefit from his criminality.”