Game over for Tomb Raider composer after Covid loan fraud conviction
A video game composer and sound designer best know for his work on the Tomb Raider series has been jailed for fraudulently applying for a Covid loan.
Peter Connelly, who is based in Durham, overstated his company’s turnover to obtain a second Bounce Back Loan of £37,500 in 2020 when businesses were only entitled to a single loan.
Connelly had previously secured a legitimate Bounce Back Loan worth £22,000 one month earlier.
The 52-year-old, of Lambton Court, Peterlee, was jailed for 16 months at a hearing of Durham Crown Court on Thursday, 17 July. He was also disqualified as a company director for six years.
Tomb Raider composer ‘blatantly disregarded the rules’
David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Peter Connelly blatantly disregarded the rules of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, designed to support small and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic.
“Connelly not only secured two loans when businesses were only allowed one, but deliberately inflated his company’s turnover to receive more money than he was entitled to.
“The Insolvency Service is the lead agency for tackling Bounce Back Loan misconduct and we remain committed to ensuring fraudsters who stole from the public purse during a national emergency are brought to justice.”
Connelly was the sole director of Peter Connelly Limited, established in June 2008.
The company was known as Universal Sound Design Limited up until November 2012, and it described its trading as “sound recording and music publishing activities”.
First Bounce Back Loan was allowed
According to the Insolvency Service, Connelly’s first application for a Bounce Back Loan was in May 2020, when he secured £22,000. It added that this application was within the rules of the scheme.
However, one month later in June 2020, Connelly applied to a different bank for a Bounce Back Loan of £37,500, claiming his company’s turnover for 2019 was £150,000, the organisation said.
The Insolvency Service said its analysis revealed his turnover was just over £58,000, meaning he substantially inflated it on his second application.
Connelly also falsely declared that this was the only loan he had applied for, it added.
The Insolvency Service said that in interviews, Connelly said he had been given the opportunity to re-imagine the music for the Tomb Raider soundtrack. This was a significant project which had the potential to be very lucrative, he added.
To complete the project, Connelly said he had taken out personal loans and sold his car. However, Connelly said everything stalled at the start of the pandemic.
Peter Connelly Limited went into liquidation in August 2021. Neither loan had been repaid at this time, the Insolvency Service said.
Connelly himself entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in June 2022, a legally binding agreement where he has committed to making regular payments to an insolvency practitioner to repay his debts.
The IVA remains active, the Insolvency Service said.