Mark Degnan, 56, from Pontefract, obtained two bounce back loans for his scaffolding business, MBL Scaffolding Services Ltd, each for the maximum £50,000 at the start of the pandemic in 2020 after he claimed his turnover was £500,000. In reality the company was dormant and turnover was only £162,000.

Earlier this year, Degnan was given a two-year suspended sentence at Leeds Crown Court for the bounce back fraud. But he was back in court this week over a failure to pay back the full amount as agreed. So far he has repaid £55,608, but at Leeds Crown Court on 15 September he was ordered to repay the remaining £59,578 plus interest within six months or face a year in prison. 

Alexander Grierson, head of asset recovery at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Mark Degnan cynically exploited a scheme designed to help small businesses during the pandemic by exaggerating his company’s turnover and obtaining two loans when companies were only allowed one.

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