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A Yorkshire scaffolding boss who fraudulently obtained £100,000 in Covid loan funds has been ordered to repay the money in full, with interest of more than £15,000.
Mark Degnan, 56, repaid £55,608 before appearing at Leeds Crown Court on Monday 15 September where he was ordered to repay the remaining £59,578 within six months.
If Degnan, of Wellhams Road, Pontefract, fails to pay back the money, he will face a year in prison.
This comes on top of Degnan receiving a two-year suspended sentence in January this year after inflating his turnover to secure the two £50,000 Bounce Back Loans in 2020 for MBL Scaffolding Services Ltd.
Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said:
Degnan claimed in both fraudulent applications to separate banks in May and July 2020 that MBL Scaffolding Services Ltd’s turnover was £500,000.
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These applications were made despite dormant company accounts being filed for 2019.
Investigators found that the company’s turnover in 2019 was closer to £162,000, meaning that it was still ineligible for the full amount. Under the rules of the scheme, businesses could borrow up to a quarter of their annual turnover, with a maximum loan of £50,000.
Degnan was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, at Leeds Crown Court in January 2025.
He was also disqualified as a company director for five years and ordered to complete 50 hours of unpaid work.
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