Father and daughter sentenced for £65K Covid loan fraud

Some of the loan was used for caravan rent

A father and daughter who fraudulently claimed £65,000 in Covid loans have been given suspended jail sentences.

Catherine Deegan, 43, used some of the money to rent a caravan, insolvency officials said.

She was given a 10-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, while her father Gerard Deegan, 65, was given a 16-month jail sentence, also suspended for 18 months.

Claire Entwistle, assistant director of operations at the Insolvency Service, said the pair “deliberately abused a scheme established to support small and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic”.

Firm liquidation

“Both of the defendants showed complete disregard for the scheme and this behaviour will not be tolerated by the Insolvency Service,” Ms Entwistle said.

The Bounce Back loan scheme during the coronavirus pandemic helped smaller firms to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 at a low interest rate, guaranteed by the government, on the condition that payments were not used for personal purposes.

Catherine Deegan received legitimate loans worth £25,000 and £50,000 for Bootle Cars & Commercials Limited and the similarly-named Bootle Car and Commercial Limited in May 2020.

Loans were granted legitimately to Catherine Deegan before she went on to apply for more

Bootle Car and Commercial was a long-running family business, incorporated in 1984, while Bootle Cars & Commercials was set up in February 2020 - with the defendants saying they wanted to expand the latter into the Isle of Man.

Within two weeks of legitimately receiving a £25,000 loan for Bootle Cars & Commercials, Catherine Deegan applied for another £15,000 from a separate bank, after her application for a top-up from the initial provider was rejected as the firm was not entitled.

She then made £3,000 in payments to herself from this loan, including for rent on a caravan.

In May 2020, Ms Deegan then legitimately secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for the other firm Bootle Car and Commercial.

Her father Gerard, who was aware of the loan, then applied for another £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for the same firm a month later.

Liquidators were appointed for the firm in December 2021.

The pair have been sentenced for fraud by false representation at Liverpool Crown Court.

Ms Deegan, of Ferndale Road, Bootle, was also convicted of acquiring criminal property and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

Her father, of Moss Lane, Lydiate, was disqualified as a company director for 10 years and placed under an electronically-monitored curfew between 6pm and 6am for the next eight months.