Anthony James Killarney, 62, from Brentwood, applied for a loan for K11 Developments Ltd in 2020, stating the company’s 2019 turnover as £600,000.
This led to the company receiving the maximum £50,000 loan.
Under the rules of the government support loans, companies could apply for loans of between £2,000 and £50,000, up to a maximum of 25 per cent of their turnover for 2019.
Killarney was sole director of the company which went into liquidation in November 2021 owing around £388,800.
This triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service which found turnover for the years ending August 2017, 2018 and 2019 had been nil, and the company had not been entitled to the £50,000 bounce back loan.
The full amount of the loan was still owed when the company went into liquidation.
The secretary of state accepted a disqualification undertaking from Killarney after he did not dispute that he had caused K11 Developments Ltd to breach the condition of the government scheme.
Killarney’s disqualification prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
The liquidator of K11 Developments Ltd is working to recover the full amount of the loan from the former director.
Martin Gitner, deputy head of insolvent investigations at the Insolvency Service, said: “Bounce back loans were put in place to provide vital support to help viable businesses through the pandemic, providing them with the financial support to protect jobs and return to prosperity.
“The conduct of Anthony James Killarney fell extremely short of the standards required of company directors and his ban should serve as a stark warning to other directors who may have misused financial support during the pandemic that the Insolvency Service will act to bring your misconduct to account and remove you from the corporate arena.”
