Director jailed for using covid loans on Disneyland, Tenerife rental, Audi, and private school fees
Steven Brookes, 40, from Bude in Cornwall, who used six fraudulently obtained bounce back loans worth £300,000 was jailed for three years and banned as a director for 10 years at Southwark Crown Court last week.
In November 2025, Brookes admitted he had applied for the loans in his wife's name, without her knowledge, opening company bank accounts in her name to receive the funds.
Brookes made six “bounce back” loan applications across five companies between May and October 2020.
Brookes was director of Blind Pig Media Limited, BPG Management Limited, Brookes Consultancy Limited, The Pig Box Limited, and The Blind Pig Group Limited.
In each case, he made the application in his wife's name without her knowledge, after he was disqualified as a company director for 11 years in April 2010 following a conviction for stealing mobile phones.
First Loan
His first application was for a £50,000 loan for Blind Pig Media Limited. Brookes declared the company's turnover as £218,865 to obtain the maximum amount when its actual turnover was £119,215.
Funds from that loan were used for personal spending, including a trip to Disneyland, and £7,000 school fees for his daughter to attend an independent school in Devon.
Second Loan
Just weeks later, Brookes applied for a second £50,000 loan for the same company, falsely declaring this was his first application.
Money from this loan was spent at a florist, a lingerie retailer, and transferred into the couple's joint expenses account.
Third Loan
Brookes' third fraudulent application in September 2020 was for another £50,000 loan, this time for BPG Management Limited. In the application, Brookes declared a turnover of £450,000, however, the company had never traded and had no accounts.
The full £50,000 was transferred to Blind Pig Media Limited, where it was used for personal spending.
This included a £7,800 Audi bought for his wife, personalised number plates costing over £4,700, a £1,200 paint job for his rental property, and a further £1,000 transferred to the couple's joint expenses account.
Fourth Loan
Later that month, Brookes secured yet another £50,000 loan, for Brookes Consultancy Limited, declaring a turnover of £350,000.
Again, the company had never traded and had no accounts. The full loan was transferred to Blind Pig Media Limited.
Fifth Loan
Brookes made a fifth application for The Pig Box Limited, declaring a turnover of £750,000 despite the company again never having traded.
The full £50,000 was transferred to Blind Pig Media Limited and used for personal spending, including £640 at luxury retailer Jo Malone, and £1,000 paid to his wife's business.
Sixth Loan
Brookes' final fraudulent application came in October 2020. He obtained a £50,000 loan for The Blind Pig Group Limited, this time declaring a turnover of £800,000.
In a repeat of some of his previous applications, the company had never traded, and the full loan amount was transferred to Blind Pig Media Limited.
Money was again used for personal spending, including £5,000 paid to a Tenerife holiday rental company and £3,439 on a home energy bill.
The insolvency service said: 'Only £7,494 has been repaid of the £300,000 Brookes stole from the scheme.'
Sentencing
When he appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday 18 June, the judge describing his actions as 'calculated and greedy'.
David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: 'Steven Brookes cynically hid behind his wife's identity to steal £300,000 in covid support funds.
'Bounce back loans were not a personal bank account for company directors to use on paying for holidays, school fees, and other luxury items. Brookes broke almost every rule going. He submitted false turnover figures, secured two loans when companies were only allowed one, and criminally misused the funds.
'He did all this while ignoring a director ban which had been in place for a decade at the time of his fraudulent actions.'
The insolvency service confirmed they were seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Given the “porkies” told by Brookes, taxpayers are entitled to ask about the lack of basic checks on the bounce back loan applications. For example, a simple visit to the Companies House website would have revealed the lack of trading.
It seems Brookes could not change his skin just like the leopard cannot change its spots (with apologies – Jeremiah 13.23).
Peter Nichols
Director - BFN Accounts & Tax Limited
2 July 2026