Man jailed for ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ fraud

A man has been jailed after he was found to have stolen more than £430,000 through the government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme.

Designed to support the hospitality sector in August 2020 during the pandemic, the scheme enabled restaurants, cafés, pubs and other food outlets to offer a discount to customers and obtain a reimbursement from HMRC for the same amount.

Mohammed Ikram completely exploited the scheme, using his own café and takeaway business as well as several fake food outlets to submit fraudulent claims and pocketed thousands of pounds in payments that he was not entitled to.

Simon York, Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said, “This was a blatant fraud by somebody who held a position of trust and responsibility.

“These schemes were designed to support individuals and businesses during a terribly difficult period. Instead, Mohammed Ikram stole money which should have been paying for vital public services and helping those who needed it most.

“This is the first conviction of Covid scheme fraud by HMRC, but we have arrested 70 people and have a number of cases working their way through the criminal justice system. So far, we have prevented the payment of, or recovered more than £1.2 billion, with compliance activity still ongoing.”

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