By Matt Pole
A Sussex director, Lee Walkey, has been sentenced for committing fraud related to the Covid Bounce Back Loan scheme and for misleading an associate about an unauthorized footgolf course investment. At Lewes Crown Court on August 16, Walkey received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
The 53-year-old had pleaded guilty in March to fraud and failing to maintain proper accounting records for his company, Worth Leisure Ltd. Pete Fulham, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, stated that Walkey exploited an emergency government scheme designed to support businesses during the pandemic and misled an acquaintance into providing cash flow for a venture he had no permission to pursue.
Walkey, residing in Crawley, was the sole director of Worth Leisure, which was established in April 2014 and underwent five name changes. Using the name The IOT Concierge Ltd, he secured the maximum Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 in July 2020, falsely claiming his business had a turnover of £240,000 while being employed full-time by BT.
The loan was intended for business use, but Walkey misappropriated £21,756 of the funds, transferring £15,000 to a personal savings account within a day of receiving the loan and making several personal payments totaling over £6,500 shortly thereafter.
Walkey’s fraudulent activities extended into late 2020 when he solicited £7,300 from a former youth football coaching acquaintance to invest in a footgolf course at Goffs Park. He falsely claimed the money was for lease and development costs, presenting an investment contract that misrepresented his company’s rights to the property—something Crawley Borough Council confirmed was untrue.
In previous legal troubles, Walkey was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, in November 2022, for acting as a company director while being undischarged bankrupt. He was banned from being a company director for 10 years.