A Cardiff businesswoman has been jailed for more than two years after fraudulently obtaining £216,250 through the UK government’s Covid-19 Bounce Back Loan Scheme by making five false loan applications across four companies.
UK website on Saturday said Rupali Wagh, 50, of Harrison Way, Cardiff, secured the loans between May and September 2020 by inflating the turnover of her businesses, obtaining duplicate loans for companies that had already received funding and using much of the money to settle personal debts and buy stocks and shares.
She pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud at Cardiff Crown Court in November 2025 and was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday, July 17, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
Commenting on the conviction, David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Rupali Wagh systematically targeted a scheme designed to help genuine businesses survive the pandemic.
“She lied about her turnover, obtained duplicate loans for the same businesses, and used the funds to pay off personal debts and buy stocks and shares.
“When confronted with the evidence, Wagh initially tried to blame someone else before admitting she had acted alone.
“These are serious crimes and the Insolvency Service remains committed to bringing Covid fraudsters like Wagh to justice no matter how long it takes.”
According to the Insolvency Service, Wagh’s first fraudulent application came in early May 2020 when she applied for a £16,250 Bounce Back Loan for One2Four Accounting Ltd.
The release stated: “She declared the company had a turnover of £65,000 and said that the funds would be used wholly for business purposes.”
It added: “In reality, the company’s turnover for the previous calendar year was just £39,000.”
The release further noted: “Within weeks of receiving the funds, Wagh transferred the money into her personal bank account and spent most of it paying off debts and purchasing stocks and shares.”
The Insolvency Service said Wagh followed this with a £50,000 application for Talensetu UK Ltd, claiming the company had a turnover of £218,000.
The release stated: “Dormant accounts filed by the company for the period June 2019 to June 2020 showed it was not trading.”
It added: “Within days of receiving the funds, Wagh transferred the entire £50,000 into her personal account and spent it on personal finance and stocks and shares. She also transferred more than £25,000 to an account in India.”
Investigators said Wagh later secured a second £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for Talensetu UK Ltd by falsely declaring it was the company’s only application under the scheme.
The release stated: “She claimed a turnover of £225,000 despite having estimated the company’s turnover for the next calendar year as just £72,000 on the bank account application form she completed the same day.”
The Insolvency Service said Wagh then made a fourth fraudulent application for White Coconut Ltd, claiming a turnover of £252,000.
The release noted that she “falsely declared this was the company’s only Bounce Back Loan application, despite having already secured £18,000 from the bank for the same business three months earlier.”
Her fifth fraudulent application was for Indian Canteen Ltd.
According to the release, Wagh “claimed a turnover of £206,000, despite estimating on her bank account application that the company’s turnover for the next year would be just £82,000.”
The release added: “She later transferred more than £25,000 of the loan funds to White Coconut Ltd.”
The Insolvency Service also said Wagh initially attempted to shift responsibility during the investigation.
The release stated: “In interviews with the Insolvency Service, Wagh initially attempted to blame a third party for one of the loan applications, claiming someone sharing her computer had made the application without her knowledge. She later retracted this and acknowledged she had acted alone.”
It further noted that Wagh “admitted using the funds to pay off personal credit card debts and loans, saying she thought that by clearing her personal debts she would be helping her businesses.”
The Insolvency Service said it is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
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