Haverfordwest Covid loan cheat who ran Carmarthen phone shop ordered to repay nearly £200k

Zahid Afzal, 37, of Albert Street, Haverfordwest, abused the emergency support scheme by repeatedly lying on loan applications for his companies, which operated phone shops and kiosks in Carmarthen, Shropshire, Hampshire and North Devon.

Afzal had already secured £52,500 legitimately. But investigators say he then “deliberately abused” the system, applying for three more maximum £50,000 loans he knew he wasn’t entitled to — including one for Phone Bits Limited, which ran the Carmarthen store.

He falsely claimed his businesses hadn’t received previous loans, inflated turnover figures and transferred large sums into his personal accounts instead of using the money for the shops. In court last year, he admitted using some of the cash for personal expenditure.

Afzal appeared at Swansea Crown Court, where a judge ruled he must repay £197,306 within three months. If he fails, he’ll be jailed for two years — and will still owe the money.

The confiscation order follows the sentence he received in 2025, when he was handed a two‑year suspended prison term, 300 hours of unpaid work, a 12‑month curfew and 20 rehabilitation activity days. He was also banned from being a company director for seven years.

Investigators found Afzal lied repeatedly on applications in 2020. In one case, he claimed Phone Bits Limited had never received a Bounce Back Loan — even though £32,500 had been paid into the business account the day before. He also boosted the turnover of Phones Onn Ltd from £80,000 to £200,000 to unlock the maximum loan amount.

A “significant amount” of the £150,000 was later transferred into Afzal’s personal accounts, breaking the rules of the scheme.

Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said Afzal had made their job easier by admitting in court that he still had the money.

“Afzal deliberately abused the Bounce Back Loan Scheme by applying for loans he knew he was not entitled to,” he said. “We are determined criminals such as Afzal are not allowed to benefit financially from their greed during the pandemic.”

A restraint order was placed on Afzal’s accounts under the Proceeds of Crime Act to stop him moving or spending assets while the investigation continued.

The final confiscation figure includes the full £150,000 he fraudulently obtained, plus indexation to reflect the change in the value of money since 2020.

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Rogue builder now living in Pembrokeshire ordered to repay £8k after botched driveway
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Rogue builder now living in Pembrokeshire ordered to repay £8k after botched driveway

Christopher McFarlane, 48, abandoned a driveway project in Leamington Spa after pocketing £8,000 upfront, leaving the property resembling a “poor‑quality sandpit”. The mess was so severe the victim’s partner, who has mobility issues, sometimes had to be carried over the rubble to leave the house.

McFarlane, now of Mathry near Haverfordwest, concealed the fact he was bankrupt when he took the money in December 2018. He began work in February 2019 but walked away weeks later, never returning. A survey revealed the driveway had to be completely redone, costing the victim more than £16,000.

The couple said in a statement:

“As disabled homeowners, we placed our trust in someone who took advantage of our goodwill at a time when we needed help, not harm.

The stress and disruption caused by McFarlane’s actions have taken a heavy toll over the past five years.

This conviction means a great deal to us. We’re incredibly grateful to the Insolvency Service for their tireless efforts in pursuing this case and securing restorative justice.”

McFarlane failed to attend an interview under caution during the Insolvency Service investigation. He appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on 4 December, where he was handed a two‑year conditional discharge and ordered to repay £8,000 at £500 per month from February 2026. If he fails to pay, he faces arrest and possible imprisonment.

Mark Stephens, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

“Christopher McFarlane only revealed his bankrupt status to the victim when he was trying to recoup his losses.

“He made such a mess of the driveway that the victim’s partner had at times to be carried over the rubble when she needed to leave the address.

“The Insolvency Service exists to tackle financial wrongdoing, and protecting the public from those who have previously been unable to repay their debts is a key priority for us.”

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Carmarthenshire rogue builder jailed after defrauding customers
Trading standards investigation leads to jail time for builder who left customers out of pocket.

Rogue builder from Porthcawl jailed
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#bankrupt #construction #debt #driveway #Haverfordwest #InsolvencyService #Mathry #RogueBuilder

Director of mobile phone shops given suspended sentence for £150,000 Covid loan fraud

The director of two companies which run mobile phone shops across the UK has been handed a two-year suspended sentence, after he fraudulently claimed £150,000 in Covid Bounce Back loans.  

Zahid Afzal, the director of Phone Bits Ltd and Phones Onn Ltd, had already received Covid loans for both companies legitimately – totalling £52,500 – when he applied for three more.  

The 37-year-old, from Haverfordwest, falsely claimed the applications were the first he had made and exaggerated the turnover of each company.  

He received the three additional loans of £50,000 each – one for Phone Bits Ltd and two for Phones Onn Ltd – between May and November 2020. 

Afzal was sentenced for three counts of fraud by false representation at Swansea Crown Court on 12 June 2025.   

The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.   

Insolvency Service Chief Investigator David Snasdell said:  

It is clear from our investigations that Zahid Afzal felt he could continue to apply time and time again for loans he was not entitled to.  

Not satisfied with the substantial funds he had legitimately received, he went on to lie on applications and exaggerate his companies’ turnovers. 

His sentencing should serve as a reminder to those contemplating fraudulently pocketing taxpayers’ money to think again.

Afzal’s companies ran mobile phone shops or kiosks in Carmarthen, Shropshire, Andover and North Devon. 

The Insolvency Service investigation did not find any wrongdoing with the use of his initial loans for Phones Onn Ltd (£20,000) and Phone Bits (£32,500), which he was entitled to and were used entirely for business purposes. 

But he moved the majority of the £150,000 he received from his second round of loans to personal accounts despite stating they were for business purposes.  

The Bounce Back loan scheme helped small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, at a low interest rate, guaranteed by the Government.    

The loans were made on the condition that they were not to be used for personal purposes, but could be used, for example, to purchase a company asset such as a vehicle, if it would provide an economic benefit to the business.  

The money lent to a company had to be paid back, over six or 10 years, with payments starting 12 months after the company received the loan. 

#Carmarthen #fraud #Haverfordwest #InsolvencyService #loans

More companies in #England and #Wales went bust in the last year than at the height of the [2008/09] #FinancialCrisis, the latest #insolvency figures show.

There were 25,551 insolvencies in the 12 months from August 2023 to July 2024, new data from the #InsolvencyService released this morning shows.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2024/aug/20/global-markets-rally-soft-landing-hopes-oil-low-uk-insolvencies-business-live
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