A West Midlands lettings agent and property developer has been given a suspended prison sentence after fraudulently obtaining two separate Covid support loans.

Harjinder Singh had already claimed a legitimate £20,000 Bounce Back Loan for HP Property (International) Ltd in May 2020 when he went back for more the following month. The 44-year-old lied to a second bank, falsely declaring it was his first application, and secured a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan he was not entitled to.

He then failed to declare the £30,000 loan when he applied for a £95,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan later that year.

Singh, of Stonnall Road, Aldridge, was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court. He was also disqualified as a company director for seven years, ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

Traded

HP Property (International) Ltd was set up in January 2016 and traded as a residential property developer and letting agent before going into liquidation.

In an interview with the Insolvency Service, Singh acknowledged the application for a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan broke the rules of the scheme, admitting he had not read the terms and conditions and saying, “we just clicked it”.

Chief investigator David Snasdell says Singh exploited Covid support schemes, making deliberate false declarations across two separate applications to keep money he had no right to. “The Insolvency Service remains committed to ensuring that Covid fraudsters face the consequences of their actions,” adds Snasdell.

The Insolvency Service aims to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

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