Harman Bangar, 40, and wife Nina Kumari, 38, were convicted last week at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court and will be sentenced on January 14 in the same court in central England (Image: News18/FILE)
Former local councilor Bangar used knowledge from holding cabinet responsibility in Wolverhampton City Council to oversee the implementation of the COVID-19 bounce back loan to cheat the system.
- PTI London
- Last Update:December 23, 2021, 4:09 pm IS
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An Indian-origin former politician and his wife have been convicted of fraud by false representation after being found guilty of providing false information to obtain a COVID-19 aid loan offered by the UK government. Harman Bangar, 40, and wife Nina Kumari, 38, were convicted last week at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court and will be sentenced at the same court in central England on January 14, 2022. The court heard that former local councilor Bangar used the knowledge of having cabinet responsibility in Wolverhampton City Council to oversee the implementation of the COVID-19 bounce back loan to defraud the system.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Specialist Fraud Prosecutor Wendy Stevens said, “As a trusted, elected official, Herman Bangar abused his position of power along with his wife Nina Kumari to deceive the public at a time of national crisis. Did.” , “Banger had a keen understanding of the eligibility of such COVID-19 business assistance schemes and tried to exploit the system by claiming for a business that the pair did not qualify for,” she said.
The couple submitted an application for a small business grant under the COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan Scheme of GBP 10,000 for Pizza Plus, a business they shared ownership of on April 24 last year, claiming that it was October Was working since 2019. However, an investigation by Wolverhampton Council’s counter-fraud team and West Midlands Police established that as of May 16, 2020, there was no record of electricity supply to the business address. The property was confiscated showing that business conditions had deteriorated. was not actually working as the couple had fraudulently claimed while applying for government financial assistance. The investigation resulted in non-payment of British taxpayer-funded grants. In March 2020, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced bounce back loans as a series of financial measures for businesses whose business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown. Since then, there have been several reports of misuse of these schemes as part of anti-fraud investigations.
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