A shamed Northwood businessman has been spared jail time following fraud sentencing. These offences were committed when the deadly disease claimed hundreds of lives across Hillingdon.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the borough had recorded 73 Coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people in 2020. Prashant Jobanputra, of Knoll Crescent, was handed down a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, January 27 2026.
He was also disqualified as a company director for three years and fined £5,000. Many will remember the thousands who died from the fatal disease.
According to The Insolvency Service (TIS): “His fraudulent loan application was in July 2020 and remained on bail for the entire period up until his sentence.”
The fraudulent application was in relation to the Government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme, which was introduced to support businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He had currently paid £15,371 of the fraudulent Bounce Back Loan by November 2025, just weeks before he was initially due to be sentenced.
But the remaining £35,000 has not yet been paid. Chief investigator at TIS, David Snasdell, said: “We will be conducting further investigations to recover the remaining funds.
“Tackling COVID support scheme abuse remains a key priority for The Insolvency Service, and we will continue to track down and prosecute fraudsters who stole from the public purse during a national emergency.”
During interviews with TIS, Jobanputra said his company was badly affected by the pandemic and that he did not read the loan agreement. His business, Genesis Web Limited, went into liquidation in October 2021 and was dissolved in March 2024.
TIS is currently trying to recover the remaining fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
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