Eat Out to Help Out fraudster told to repay more than £300k after falsely claiming Covid support grants

A Birmingham accountant who defrauded Eat Out to Help Out and other Covid support schemes has been ordered to repay more than £300,000.

Zeeshan Ashraf was handed a confiscation order of £307,690 at Birmingham Crown Court on October 13.

Ashraf was jailed for three years and eight months at the same court in February 2025 after defrauding the Eat Out to Help Out, Bounce Back Loan, and Covid Job Retention schemes.

The 46-year-old fraudulently obtained £268,102 between April 2020 and April 2021 and attempted to claim a further £52,733.

Ashraf, of Glaisdale Road, Birmingham, has been given three months to pay the full amount ordered by the confiscation order. If he fails to do so, he could face a further two-and-a-half years in prison and would still owe the full amount.

Alexander Grierson, head of asset recovery at the Insolvency Service, said: “Zeeshan Ashraf stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from schemes designed to support businesses during the pandemic.

“He has served time in prison for his crimes and has now been ordered to pay back more than £300,000.

“This should send a clear message to fraudsters: a conviction and prison sentence do not necessarily mark the end of enforcement action. We will pursue the proceeds of crime wherever we can.”

Ashraf used his accountancy company, A-Z Certified Accountants Limited, to secure three £50,000 Bounce Back Loans from separate banks in 2020. Businesses were only entitled to a single loan.

Ashraf claimed the business had turnovers between £215,000 and £244,000 when it was actually just £8,000, allowing him to obtain the maximum £50,000 available through each loan application.

He claimed the loans would be used to support his business during the pandemic. However, he spent the £150,000 he secured on lifestyle purposes, property investments and the repayment of personal loans.

Ashraf also fraudulently received £91,174 through the Covid Job Retention Scheme after making multiple false or unauthorised applications to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on behalf of his business clients.

Further fraudulent claims for £38,082 under the scheme were unsuccessful.

He also stole £26,928 from the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme by submitting numerous claims on behalf of hospitality companies which either did not exist or did not operate in the restaurant trade.

Ashraf unsuccessfully attempted to claim a further £14,651 through Eat Out to Help Out.

The £307,690 confiscation order includes the money Ashraf fraudulently obtained plus an uplift reflecting changes in the value of money since 2020. The amount would have been even higher had Ashraf not previously repaid around £33,000 of the Bounce Back Loans.

The original criminal investigations were carried out by HMRC and investigators who are now part of the Insolvency Service. The confiscation proceedings were conducted jointly by HMRC and the Insolvency Service, with the case prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service.