A Cardiff businesswoman has been jailed for more than two years after fraudulently claiming more than £216,000 through the government's Covid-era Bounce Back Loan scheme by
submitting false applications for four companies.
Rupali Wagh, 50, secured five Bounce Back Loans between May and September 2020 by exaggerating the turnover of her businesses and, in two cases, obtaining duplicate loans despite rules allowing only one loan per company.
She admitted five counts of fraud at Cardiff Crown Court in November 2025 and was sentenced to two years and three months in prison at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday.
Investigators said Wagh used much of the money for personal benefit, including paying off credit card debts, settling personal loans and buying stocks and shares, rather than supporting struggling businesses during the pandemic.
The Insolvency Service said the fraud involved four companies: One2Four Accounting Ltd, Talensetu UK Ltd, White Coconut Ltd and Indian Canteen Ltd.
Her first false application was made in May 2020 for One2Four Accounting Ltd, a bookkeeping business. Wagh claimed the company's annual turnover was £65,000, securing a £16,250 loan, although investigators found its actual turnover had been about £39,000. Much of the money was quickly transferred into her personal bank account.
A month later she obtained the maximum £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for Talensetu UK Ltd by claiming the company generated £218,000 in turnover. However, company accounts showed the business had been dormant during the relevant period. Investigators found she transferred the entire loan into her personal account within days, spending the money on personal finances, investments and sending more than £25,000 to an account in India.
In July 2020, Wagh secured a second £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for the same company from another bank after falsely declaring it had not previously received government support under the scheme. She again moved almost all of the funds into her personal account.
The following month she fraudulently obtained another £50,000 loan for White Coconut Ltd, an Indian street food business in Cardiff, overstating its turnover and failing to disclose that it had already received an earlier Bounce Back Loan.
Her final fraudulent application came in September 2020 for Indian Canteen Ltd, a company incorporated only months earlier. She claimed annual turnover of £206,000 to obtain another £50,000 loan before transferring more than £25,000 to White Coconut Ltd.
During interviews with investigators, Wagh initially claimed one of the applications had been submitted by someone else using her computer. She later withdrew that account and admitted acting alone.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said Wagh had deliberately abused a scheme designed to help legitimate businesses survive the economic impact of the pandemic.
He said she had repeatedly inflated company turnover, obtained duplicate loans and diverted public money to pay personal debts and make investments, adding that the agency remained committed to pursuing Covid fraud regardless of how much time had passed.
The Insolvency Service is now seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained money under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Photo by Felipe Esquivel Reed, Wikimedia commons.
