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Stanislav Genadiev used the funds from two £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loans to pay off his own personal debts
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He also spent the money on items such as groceries and clothing
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Genadiev must pay back more than £56,000 in the next three months or go to jail for 18 months. He would still have to repay the money if he went to prison
An electrician who fraudulently claimed Covid Bounce Back Loans for his business and a separate perfume company must repay more than £56,000 or face jail after spending the cash on personal expenses and designer clothing.
Stanislav Genadiev submitted false statements to obtain the two loans worth a combined £100,000 in 2020.
Genadiev, of Faircross Avenue, Romford, was ordered to repay £56,948 at a confiscation hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday 9 September.
The 37-year-old would be sentenced to 18 months in prison if he failed to comply with the order.
Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said:
Stanislav Genadiev declared in applying for the two loans that he would use the funds for the economic benefit of his business.
Instead, he spent the money clearing his own personal debts, paying for everyday items such as groceries and even buying himself designer clothing.
This was not how the loans were supposed to be used and the Insolvency Service takes a zero-tolerance approach to those who so blatantly steal from the public purse.
During the course of our financial investigations, we uncovered assets worth almost £57,000 belonging to Genadiev, including 50% equity at his home address and land in Bulgaria. We will not hesitate to recover the remaining amount he fraudulently secured from the taxpayer if we believe he has assets that can satisfy the order.
Genadiev first applied for a £50,000 loan in July 2020, claiming his K and S Installation Ltd electrician business had a turnover of £200,000 in 2019.
Accounts for K and S seen by the Insolvency Service revealed the real turnover was closer to £85,000.
In a statement to investigators, Genadiev said he used the funds to pay off his personal debts which were unrelated to his business.
Money from the account was also used for groceries and clothing.
Genadiev made a second fraudulent £50,000 application in September 2020, this time claiming his G and S Perfumes Ltd business had an estimated turnover of £200,000.
The business, in fact, was not trading by March 2020.
Snaresbrook Crown Court gave Genadiev three months to pay the money or face 18 months in prison.
He would still owe the full amount ordered if he failed to comply and was sent to prison.
If Insolvency Service investigators uncover more assets Genadiev has or obtains in the future, he will have to pay the remaining amount he fraudulently secured.
Genadiev was also sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, for the offences when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court in February this year. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. The sentences are separate to the subsequent confiscation order.
