Essex-based financial consultant receives disqualification order for abusing Bounce-Back Loan

loan business

A financial consultant, Eunice Gill Dzodzome, from Essex has received a disqualification order after abusing the Bounce-Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) by using £45,000 to invest in cryptocurrencies.

The 11-year-long ban means that she cannot have any significant roles within a corporate area. With the disqualification order in place, Dzodzome cannot legally:

  • act as a director of a company
  • take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
  • be a receiver of a company’s property

The exact details of her disqualification order can be reached through The Insolvency Service. 

The BBLS application

The BBLS was created so small businesses could access finance more quickly during the pandemic but closed to new applications on 31 March 2021. The scheme offered loans between £2,000 and £50,000. Ms Dzodzome managed to obtain nearly the maximum available loan.

Businesses were required to have been trading by 1 March 2020 and continuing to trade when they had submitted their application. However, the company she was appointed sole director of, Reach Alive, was not trading when she made her application. In fact, when Dzodzome has applied on the 17th of August 2020, there were dormant accounts that had been filed for the year ending September 2020.

Not only had Dzodzome lied about her business trading during a period they were dormant, but she also stated on her application that their turnover was £200,000. The actual turnover was just under £19,000. 

An investigation into the loan began after Reach Alive entered into creditors’ voluntary liquidation in July 2021. 

Where did the money go?

Reach Alive Ltd received a £45,000 Bounce Back Loan. The day after it reached her company account Dzodzome transferred £40,000 of the loan into her personal account. This money is believed to have been invested in cryptocurrency. The rest of the loan £2,000 was paid to Eunice Dzodzome as a director’s loan and £3,000 was used as an advance payment towards her company’s liquidation.

By using the BBLS for her own personal use, Dzodzome had breached the conditions of the loan. The loan was only intended for use to keep businesses afloat due to the collateral effects of multiple lockdowns.

Statements from the Insolvent Investigations

The Deputy Head of Insolvent Investigations opted to make a statement regarding the case. In it, Lawrence Zussman said, “Dzodzome blatantly abused the Government’s bounce back loan, which was meant to provide a vital lifeline to businesses during the pandemic so they could bounce back.”

They would then explain the importance of such a lengthy ban, “11 years is a substantial amount of time to be removed from the corporate area and the severity of Eunice Dzodzome’s disqualification should serve as a stark warning to others that we will tackle those offenders who think they can abuse their responsibilities and ultimately the taxpayer.”

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