A UK woman has been sentenced to prison for fraudulently obtaining nearly £200,000 in COVID-19 relief loans. Rupali Wagh applied for Bounce Back Loans between July and September 2020 for multiple businesses, inflating their turnover figures on her applications.

One company, Talensetu, a recruitment firm, received a £50,000 loan in August 2020. Wagh claimed a turnover of £225,000 for the company, despite estimating its turnover for the following year at £72,000 on the same day. She also falsely stated it was the company's only loan application. The majority of these funds were transferred to her personal account and used for stocks and shares, as well as settling personal debts.

Wagh made similar fraudulent claims for other businesses. For White Coconut Ltd, an Indian street food outlet in Cardiff, she applied for £50,000 in August 2020, claiming a turnover of £252,000 against a bank application estimate of £72,000. She again falsely declared it was the sole loan application, despite having already received £18,000 for the same business from a different bank earlier that year. Later, she transferred over £25,000 of the loan funds from White Coconut Ltd to another of her companies.

Her final fraudulent application was in September 2020 for Indian Canteen Ltd, a street food business incorporated that January. She sought £50,000, claiming a turnover of £206,000, while her bank application estimated the company's turnover for the next year at £82,000.

During interviews with the Insolvency Service, Wagh admitted using loan money to clear personal credit card debts and loans. Her defense stated that this was not for personal enrichment but an attempt to preserve her companies for her staff during the pandemic, amid a difficult personal time including a divorce in 2016. It was also suggested that on one application, she became confused and believed she was applying for a top-up loan.

David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, described Wagh as having "systematically targeted a scheme designed to help genuine businesses survive the pandemic."