Bounce Back Loan Scheme Fraud

Introduced in May 2020, the BBLS is a government backed loan scheme available to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s) whereby accredited lenders (including high street banks) would advance loans of between £2K and £50K to qualifying SME’s.

In order to quickly get the money into the hands of the applicant businesses, these loans were guaranteed by the Government so that the lenders did not need to carry out their usual levels of diligence before advancing the loans.

However, the Government is aware that in a number of cases, false or incorrect applications have been made, and in others the loans have not been used for the required business uses, but used to fund the directors or acquire personal assets.

In these circumstances, HMRC may take action to recover any loans from the directors personally, and we have already seen several prosecutions for fraud.

If you feel you have wrongly received a letter from HMRC or need assistance in coming forward, please get in touch for a free initial consultation on your situation.