A Bradford second-hand car dealer has been ordered to repay in full the Covid funds he fraudulently secured, the Insolvency Service said in a 10 August 2026 press release. Javed Akhtar, 49, of Thornton Lane, Bradford, received a confiscation order of £66,917 at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday 6 August 2026. He must repay the money within three months or face six months in prison while still owing the funds.

Akhtar was sentenced in March 2026 to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work. He had admitted fraudulently applying for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for Natasha Motors Ltd in May 2020, the maximum available under the scheme, claiming the company's turnover was £400,000. Investigators identified assets, including three cars and a solar panel investment worth more than £150,000, indicating he could repay the loan in full plus an uplift for the change in money's value since 2020.

Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said pursuing confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act is a priority. Akhtar was disqualified as a company director in August 2023 for failing to deliver adequate accounting records, with a six-year ban running until August 2029. Natasha Motors Ltd went into liquidation in April 2021.