A director has been jailed for almost £30,000 worth of fraud. Lee Walkey, of Fontana Close, Crawley, obtained a £50,000 loan in July 2020 through a government scheme set up to help small businesses during the pandemic. The insolvency service found that Walkey, 53, misused £21,756 of the loan, transferring £15,000 into his savings one day after receiving the fund and making personal payments worth £3,500.
He made a personal payment of £3,000 using his Tesco credit card. In the autumn of 2020, Walkey’s fraudulent actions continued, when he asked someone he knew to invest £7,300 in a planned footgolf course at Goffs Park pitch-and-putt golf course in Horsham Road, Crawley. READ MORE: Crawley: Man appears in court charged with murder of teen The victim made an initial payment of £5,000 after reportedly being offered 20% control and refreshment takings and was told the amount would be refunded.
In November and December, further payments of £1,000 and £1,300 were made to Walkey for the “design and build of the course”. Walkey drew up an investment contract stating his company held a lease to provide the sporting service at Goffs Park, which Crawley Borough Council confirmed to be false. Walkey also admitted to not keeping books and records for his company, Worth Leisure.
He pleaded guilty to fraud and failing to keep accounting records in March and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Lewes Crown Court on Friday, August 16. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. The 53-year-old was previously sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, in November 2022 for acting as a director of a company while he was 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. READ MORE: Man denies murder after death outside Chichester Wetherspoon pub 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 cash flow 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.”.
