Florin-Petrica Bodale offered plumbing, heating and air-conditioning installation and was based in Harrow, London.

In November 2020, the 34-year-old successfully applied to a bank for a Covid Bounce Back loan of £50,000.

But an Insolvency Service investigation found that he had falsely claimed the company’s turnover was £240,000 to receive the maximum loan available.

In reality, the turnover of the company was around £22,000 – meaning he was only entitled to £5,500.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court last week Bodale was sentenced to 13-months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for one count of fraud by false representation.

He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.

Insolvency Service Chief Investigator David Snasdell said: “Florin-Petrica Bodale falsely claimed a much higher turnover for his business and the reality of this is a notable sentence on top of his earlier disqualification as a director.

“These loans were intended to help keep small businesses afloat, not to take money from the public purse that businesses were not entitled to.

“We will continue in our efforts to bring those who abuse this scheme to justice.”

In 2022, before the criminal investigation, Bodale signed a ten-year bankruptcy restriction undertaking which also included a ten-year director disqualification following a civil investigation by the Insolvency Service.

The court noted that he had repaid some money as part of the bankruptcy process.