Bucks events company owner convicted for fraudulently claiming £50k Covid support fund

William Blenkarn, 48, who ran MJB Events Limited, secured two Government loans under its ‘bounce back’ scheme.

Prosecutors proved that the second loan was essentially going towards the same business venture and breached rules behind the initiative. It was clearly stated that each business was entitled to just one loan.

Blenkarn, applied for a second loan via a company called MJB Entertainment Group Ltd – which had only been set up weeks before his fraudulent application.

Blenkarn, formerly of London End, Beaconsfield, but now living in Spain, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, at Aylesbury Crown Court last Thursday.

Magistrates have ordered Blenkarn to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Government’s Insolvency Service, said: “William Blenkarn’s company received double the amount of public money it deserved due to his false declaration when applying for a second Bounce Back Loan.

“This was taxpayers’ money and Blenkarn made matters worse by moving a significant proportion of the loan over to his new company which had only been trading for a few months.”

MJB Events was launched in January 2016 and was described as an events company. MJB Entertainment Group was set up in early April 2020.

Blenkarn told the Insolvency Service that MJB Entertainment Group was created to manage and book artists but developed into organising a range of charity events.

The company also described itself as providing additional services such as marquee design and wedding planning.

Blenkarn applied to two different banks for £50,000 Bounce Back Loans - the maximum allowed under the scheme - on behalf of MJB Events in May 2020, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.

For his second application, Blenkarn ticked the online declaration to certify that this was the only application made on behalf of the business.

Blenkarn claimed he did not know that he could only apply for one loan for each company. But the Government’s investigation uncovered that two payments of £25,000 and £16,000 were then made to MJB Entertainment Group from the bank account belonging to MJB Events in July 2020.

These transactions left the MJB Events account overdrawn by around £25,000 at the time liquidators were appointed in June 2021, depriving creditors of the funds.

Blenkarn also breached his duties as a director by failing to deliver accounting records for MJB Events to the liquidator as he was required to do by law, the court heard.