The owner of a Watford restaurant has been jailed for two-and-a-half years over fraudulent use of a Covid bounce-back loan.

Ilhan Kekec, of Abbotts Drive, Waltham Abbey, was also banned from being a company director for three years at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday, March 18, for dissolving his restaurant business after receiving a £30,000 loan.

Kekec has run Derwish Meze & BBQ Restaurant in St Albans Road with his wife for seven years under the Helosh Ltd business name.

In 2020, he set up a second eatery, the Derwish Kebab Restaurant, in Forest Gate, London, under the separate Hizirali Ltd business entity, which opened for three weeks before it shut indefinitely due to the lockdown.

The Insolvency Service said Kekec falsely claimed the turnover for the second business was £125,000 when he applied for the loan in May 2020.

He withdrew the money in cash and later admitted to Insolvency Service investigators that he spent the funds on clearing personal debts, according to the prosecution.  

It said he deliberately failed to inform his creditors within seven days of closing the company down in June 2020, claiming it was no longer economically viable.

He denied two counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of failure to notify creditors of a voluntary strike-off but was found guilty by a jury in December 2023. 

Julie Barnes, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “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.”

His wife Duygu Celik said her husband was an “honest man” who made a “simple mistake” and had always paid off other business loans.

She said: “My husband and I have been the owners of the Derwish restaurant in Watford for seven years now. 

“It’s been very successful, and he's really loved in the community. My husband made this simple mistake because he was wrongly advised, while the real fraudsters took out millions of pounds but the government did not find them. 

“They came after my husband who just owns a small business and who's just trying to get on with his life, trying to take care of myself and his two children.

“We love my husband and we will be taking care of Derwish restaurant in Watford until he's back with us, giving even excellent service and excellent food as we always did.”