EditorHaverfordwest 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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