​Restaurant Owner Jailed Over £30K Covid Loan Fraud

A Turkish restaurant owner was imprisoned after being convicted of fraudulently acquiring a £30,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan and attempting to dissolve his company without alerting his creditors. Ilhan Kekec, who operated the Derwish Restaurant in Watford and later opened a second establishment in London, was found guilty by a jury in December 2023 of fraud by false representation and failing to notify creditors of his intention to strike off the company.

Despite his denial of the charges, evidence presented at Isleworth Crown Court led to his conviction. Kekec applied for the government-backed loan in May 2020, assuming that his new restaurant, which had only been operational for three weeks before the lockdown, had a turnover of £125,000. The funds, once received, were withdrawn in cash and used to settle personal debts. When applying to dissolve the company shortly after that, Kekec neglected his legal obligation to inform creditors, a move that contributed to his sentencing on 18 March to over two years in prison and a three-year ban from serving as a company director.

Julie Barnes, the Insolvency Service's chief investigator, remarked on the case: "Ilhan Kekec saw an opportunity in the early weeks of the pandemic to receive a Covid loan which he never intended to repay. His actions were thoroughly dishonest, and at no point did he ever own up to his crimes. He will now have the chance to reflect on his behaviour from behind bars."

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