Sussex director sentenced for Covid fraud and footgolf scheme
Director who previously committed bankruptcy offences is sentenced for fraud and failing to keep accounting records
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Lee Walkey fraudulently used more than £21,000 from a Covid Bounce Back Loan for his own personal use
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Walkley also encouraged someone he knew to invest more than £7,000 in a proposed footgolf course in Crawley he did not have permission to create
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The 53-year-old was handed a suspended sentence for fraud and failing to keep accounting records for his Worth Leisure Ltd company
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Walkey had previously been convicted of acting as a company director when he was bankrupt following investigations by the Insolvency Service
A Sussex director who committed Covid Bounce Back Loan fraud and encouraged an associate to invest in the creation of a footgolf course he never had permission to create, has been sentenced.
Lee Walkey was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Lewes Crown Court on Friday 16 August.
Walkey was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
The 53-year-old had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud and failing to keep accounting records for his Worth Leisure Ltd company at a hearing in March.
Pete Fulham, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Lee Walkey deliberately exploited an emergency government-backed scheme designed to help businesses during the pandemic.
He then committed a further fraudulent offence by duping someone he knew into effectively providing him with cashflow through a proposed investment. He also disregarded the strict requirements on company directors to keep proper accounting records.
This behaviour will not be tolerated by the Insolvency Service and we will use all the powers at our disposal to tackle such financial wrongdoing.
Walkey, of Fontana Close, Crawley, was the sole director of Worth Leisure which was set up in April 2014 and went through five different company names.
One of those names, The IOT Concierge Ltd, was used when Walkey obtained the maximum permitted £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020.
Walkey, who claimed the turnover of his business was £240,000, was employed full-time by BT when he made the application.
Money from the loans was only allowed to be used for the economic benefit of the business under the rules of the scheme.
The Insolvency Service successfully showed that Walkey had misused £21,756 of the loan.
Indeed, within just one day of receiving the funds, Walkey transferred £15,000 to a savings account and made personal payments of £3,500.
A few days later, he made another personal payment of more than £3,000 using his Tesco credit card.
Walkey’s fraudulent actions continued into autumn 2020 when he approached someone he knew from coaching youth football to invest £7,300 in a planned footgolf course at Goffs Park pitch-and-putt golf course on Horsham Road in Crawley.
The victim claimed Walkey offered him 20% control of the course and refreshment takings once the facility opened.
An initial £5,000 payment in October 2020 was made by the victim which Walkey claimed was for a lease at the site and which would be fully refunded at a later date.
Further payments of £1,000 and £1,300 were made in November and December 2020 which the victim thought would be for the design and build of the course.
An “investment contract” drawn up by Walkey claimed his company held a lease to provide sporting services at Goffs Park.
Crawley Borough Council, which controls the site west of the town centre, confirmed this was untrue.
In interviews with the Insolvency Service, Walkey also admitted to not keeping books and records for Worth Leisure, breaching legislation under the Companies Act.
Walkey was previously sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, in November 2022, for acting as a director of a company while an undischarged bankrupt without leave of the court.
He was also banned as a company director for 10 years and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
These offences took place from when Walkey was declared bankrupt in August 2018 to December 2020.
Further information
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Lee Walkey is of Fontana Close, Crawley. His date of birth is 6 March 1971
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Sentenced for: fraud by false representation, contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 and failing to keep accounting records, contrary to section 387 of the Companies Act 2006
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Worth Leisure Ltd (company number 09001888)