A Watford business owner has been handed a suspended sentence after fraudulently claiming a £50,000 government loan at the height of the pandemic.

Irena Tokarczyk, 66, from Ashburnham Drive was the sole director of Good Foods Ltd when she applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back loan from the government in June 2020.

Just three months later, she dissolved the company without telling the bank - and with the loan still outstanding.

By law, anyone applying to dissolve a company must inform the firm’s lenders or creditors of the application within seven days. 

This triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service and led to Tokarczyk appearing at Isleworth Crown Court on November 5, where she pleaded guilty to fraud and a breach of the Companies Act 2006.

She was handed an 18-month jail sentence for failing to perform the duties of a director, and a further two-year jail sentence for fraud, both to run concurrently and suspended for 12 months.

Tokarczyk is also required to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activity. 

Investigators found no evidence of her company actually trading at any point, and that she applied for a voluntary strike-off of the business on July 1 - just days after applying for the maximum loan being offered by the government.

They also discovered that Tokarczyk had applied for the loan, knowing that the rules of the scheme stipulated that it must be repaid by the company. 

Chief Investigator Mark Stephens said: "Irena Tokarczyk exploited the Bounce Back Loan scheme at a time when businesses in the UK were facing some of their toughest times. 

"Her sentence shows the Insolvency Service will strive for the toughest penalties for those who abuse taxpayers’ money."

He added: "We will continue to seek recovery of the money to return it to the public purse."

As well as her sentence, Tokarczyk has been disqualified as a company director for three years, until November 2027.

The focus will now turn to a hearing in January 2025, as the Insolvency Service seeks to recover the money through a Proceeds of Crime Confiscation Order.