Insolvency Service Accelerates Covid Fraud Prosecutions as Hotelier and Taxi Driver Face Six-Figure Penalties

The Insolvency Service has published details of two significant Covid fraud prosecutions within 48 hours, signalling an acceleration in enforcement activity more than six years after pandemic support schemes closed. The cases-a London hotelier who fraudulently claimed £450,000 across five companies and a Devon taxi driver ordered to repay £63,790-demonstrate the agency's continued focus on asset recovery and criminal prosecution.

London Hotelier Sentenced for Nine Fraudulent Applications

Richard Courtenay, 62, of Larpent Avenue, London, was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for three years, at Southwark Crown Court on 3 September 2026 after pleading guilty to nine counts of fraud and one count of money laundering^[1]. The case, published by the Insolvency Service^[1] on 7 September 2026, involved fraudulent Bounce Back Loan applications in May and June 2020.

Courtenay's nine applications involved fraudulent declarations about the turnover of five companies and applying for multiple loans when businesses were only allowed one^[1]. He failed to use the funds for business purposes and attempted to conceal them by swiftly moving them into his personal accounts or the bank accounts of his other companies^[1].

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Richard Courtenay is an experienced businessman. It is therefore surprising that he claims he did not read his loan applications carefully or check them for accuracy. The reality is that his actions involved determination in exploiting a scheme vulnerable to fraud. It is clear he was driven by greed, given the sheer number of Bounce Back Loans he obtained within such a short space of time."^[1]

Courtenay repaid the £450,000 he fraudulently obtained in full, but only after Insolvency Service investigations into his criminal conduct began^[1]. In addition to the suspended sentence, he was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and attend 10 days of rehabilitation activity^[1].

Devon Taxi Driver Faces Confiscation Order

A day after Courtenay's sentencing was published, the Insolvency Service announced a confiscation order against Murat Dogantekin, 52, of Mulligan Drive, Exeter. A confiscation order of £63,790 was made against him at Exeter Crown Court on 8 September 2026^[2].

Dogantekin had fraudulently secured £100,000 in Bounce Back Loans by inflating the turnover of his taxi business by more than £350,000^[2]. He secured two loans of £50,000 each-the maximum allowed under the scheme-from separate banks in May and June 2020, stating his annual turnover was £200,000 and £205,000 respectively^[2].

The Insolvency Service^[2] found he spent the money on a flat in Turkey, a car and a pizza oven. Dogantekin was jailed for two years and seven months in February 2025 after Insolvency Service investigations discovered the fraud^[2].

The confiscation order reflects the value of assets identified by Insolvency Service financial investigators as being available to Dogantekin^[2]. He has been given three months to repay the funds. If he fails to do so, he could face a further five years in prison and would still be required to pay back the order in full^[2].

Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said: "Bounce Back Loans were designed to support small and medium-sized businesses through the pandemic. They were not handed out to taxi drivers to spend on properties and pizza ovens. Murat Dogantekin cynically exploited the scheme and our investigations ensured he was jailed for his fraudulent actions. The Insolvency Service will continue to pursue Covid fraudsters and use every available power to recover money obtained through criminality."^[2]

Enforcement Timeline and Recovery Focus

Both prosecutions originate from loan applications made in May and June 2020, at the height of the pandemic when Bounce Back Loans were introduced to provide emergency funding to small businesses. The publication of two major cases within 48 hours-on 7 September and 8 September 2026-represents a notable concentration of enforcement activity.

The cases demonstrate two distinct enforcement approaches. Courtenay's case resulted in full repayment of £450,000 after investigations commenced, followed by a suspended sentence and community penalties^[1]. Dogantekin's case involved imprisonment first (February 2025), followed by a confiscation order targeting available assets (September 2026)^[2].

The Courtenay case involved exploitation across five separate companies^[1], highlighting the risk of repeat offending across multiple corporate vehicles. This pattern-where individuals control multiple companies and submit fraudulent applications for each-was a known vulnerability in the Bounce Back Loan scheme, which prioritised speed of disbursement over verification during the 2020 emergency.

UK Company Register Context

Analysis of the UK company register provides broader context on insolvency and corporate status trends, though no sector-specific data on Covid fraud cases is currently available from public register records.

As of September 2026, the CompanyPulse company register^[3] shows 109,903 companies across the UK economy are currently in liquidation. A further 4,562 are in administration, 2,278 in voluntary arrangement, and 1,106 in receivership^[3]. These figures represent point-in-time totals across all sectors and are not specific to Covid fraud enforcement.

The register records 15,818 new company incorporations in the seven days to 9 September 2026, with 6,647,272 total companies on the register and 5,586,295 classified as active^[3].

Geographic distribution of registered companies shows London accounts for 1,036,595 registered addresses, followed by Manchester (101,308), Birmingham (90,765), Glasgow (69,525) and Edinburgh (57,534)^[3]. These totals reflect the entire UK company register and do not indicate concentrations of fraudulent activity.

Ongoing Enforcement

The Insolvency Service's continued pursuit of Covid fraud cases more than six years after the schemes closed indicates a long enforcement tail. The agency has stated it will "continue to pursue Covid fraudsters and use every available power to recover money obtained through criminality"^[2].

The dual focus on criminal prosecution and asset recovery-evidenced by Dogantekin's confiscation order and Courtenay's enforced repayment-suggests the Insolvency Service is prioritising financial restitution alongside punitive measures. Both cases involved individuals who attempted to conceal or spend fraudulently obtained funds on personal assets, prompting targeted asset tracing by financial investigators.

For company directors and compliance officers, these cases underscore the extended timeframe for fraud investigations and the agency's willingness to pursue both criminal sanctions and civil asset recovery. The publication of enforcement actions also serves a deterrent function, signalling to other potential fraudsters that investigations remain active despite the passage of time since the pandemic schemes closed.