Director claimed £50k Covid loan then closed firm

Irena Tokarczyk claimed the maximum Bounce Back Loan before dissolving her company

A company director from Hertfordshire who claimed a £50,000 Covid loan and then dissolved her business has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Irena Tokarczyk, 66, of Ashburnham Drive, Watford, applied for the maximum Bounce Back Loan in June 2020 as the sole director of Good Food Shops Ltd.

She applied for a voluntary strike-off of the firm a week later and investigators from the Insolvency Service found there was no evidence the company, which was dissolved in October 2020, had ever traded.

Tokarczyk was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on 5 November after admitting fraud and failing to perform the duties of a director.

She was given an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, for failing to perform the duties of a director, and a further two-year jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, for fraud.

The sentences will run concurrently and include 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activity.

Tokarczyk was also disqualified as a company director for three years.

In January, she will face a confiscation order to recover the funds, the Insolvency Service said.

Chief investigator Mark Stephens said: "Irena Tokarczyk exploited the Bounce Back Loan scheme at a time when businesses in the UK were facing some of their toughest times.

"We will continue to seek recovery of the money to return it to the public purse."