A Director who previously committed bankruptcy offences is sentenced for fraud and failing to keep accounting records
- Lee Walkey fraudulently used more than £21,000 from a Covid Bounce Back Loan for his own personal use
- Walkley also encouraged someone he knew to invest more than £7,000 in a proposed footgolf course in Crawley he did not have permission to create
- The 53-year-old was handed a suspended sentence for fraud and failing to keep accounting records for his Worth Leisure Ltd company
- Walkey had previously been convicted of acting as a company director when he was bankrupt following investigations by the Insolvency Service
A Sussex director who committed Covid Bounce Back Loan fraud and encouraged an associate to invest in the creation of a footgolf course he never had permission to create, has been sentenced.
Lee Walkey was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Lewes Crown Court on Friday 16 August.
Walkey was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
The 53-year-old had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud and failing to keep accounting records for his Worth Leisure Ltd company at a hearing in March.
Pete Fulham, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Lee Walkey deliberately exploited an emergency government-backed scheme designed to help businesses during the pandemic.
He then committed a further fraudulent offence by duping someone he knew into effectively providing him with cashflow through a proposed investment. He also disregarded the strict requirements on company directors to keep proper accounting records.
This behaviour will not be tolerated by the Insolvency Service and we will use all the powers at our disposal to tackle such financial wrongdoing.
- Walkey, of Fontana Close, Crawley, was the sole director of Worth Leisure which was set up in April 2014 and went through five different company names.
- One of those names, The IOT Concierge Ltd, was used when Walkey obtained the maximum permitted £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020.
