Fraudsters stole £195,000 in government grants by pretending to run businesses, including a Greggs bakery.
Rais Kayani accepted money from false applicants for the Small Business Grant Fund at a number of councils, including St Helens, Thurrock and Rochdale councils. The councils were defrauded out of £35,000, £85,000 and £75,000 respectively, between May 4 and May 9, 2020.
When making the applications to St Helens council, the fraudsters had impersonated high street bakery chain Greggs. A court heard that genuine business rate account numbers were used to support false applications for rate grants which were awarded by the local authority.
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Investigators were unable to identify who submitted the fraudulent applications. But the requested payments were all transferred for the benefit of the bank account of RAK Traders and Services Ltd., a company based in Luton, Beds.
Rais Kayani, 31, is the sole director of the company, prosecutors said. Bank statements from that account show that £195,000 had been received from the three local authorities.
And on 12 May 2020, £100,000 was transferred out to a US dollar account. On 13 May 2020, $47,500 was sent from the dollar account to an account in Hong Kong.
Kayani pleaded guilty previously to a single count of entering into a money laundering arrangement at Southwark Crown Court. He was given a 16 months jail term, suspended for 18 months .
Speaking after sentencing, Ben Reid of the CPS said: "At a time of national emergency during the COVID-19 crisis, vast government funds were released to support struggling businesses across the country. Kayani was the cynical beneficiary of a series of false applications to local authorities in different parts of the country from where his business operated.
"Having dishonestly benefitted from the fraudulent applications for the Small Business Grant Fund, he transferred the proceeds overseas. We have already recovered £155,000 of taxpayer’s money and will now seek a confiscation order for the remaining funds."
A CPS spokesman said: "The CPS is committed to bringing fraudsters, including those who have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic for their own gain, to justice."
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