‘Rogue’ shop owner took £50,000 Covid loan after his shop had closed down

David Ocaya Okot, 40, was the sole director of B&S News, a newsagent and convenience store in Lewisham, south-east London.

Okot bought the store in 2014 and ran it until 2020 when increased competition and rising costs forced him to close.

But investigators from the government’s Insolvency Service discovered Okot had applied for a bounce-back loan in 2020, despite being ineligible as the government-backed loan was only available for businesses trading during the pandemic.

His application came after the company had stopped trading.

The investigators also found Okot transferred close to £50,000 from the company bank account into his personal account.

The former convenience store owner said he was looking to relocate the business with the money, but investigators found no evidence to support this claim.

Tom Phillips, assistant director at the Insolvency Service, said Okot had applied for a loan despite his store having closed before the pandemic, and described him as a “rogue director”.