Man jailed over Covid fraud after £34 million theft from Slough firm

Gerald Smith, 69, was imprisoned for 18 months over the bounce-back loan, after he spent £22,000 of it on court fees relating to a 2006 fraud case he was involved in, City of London Police said.

Smith had pleaded guilty to stealing more than £34 million that belonged to a software firm called Izodia, based in Slough, following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

He had acquired a stake in the company through his Jersey-based firm Orb Group and transferred more than £34 million of Izodia cash assets to Jersey which he used for himself, City of London Police said.

Smith was given an eight-year jail term in 2006 and a judge made a confiscation order of about £40 million in 2007 - which has reached £72m due to interest, according to the police force. 

Smith, of Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, central London, applied for £50,000 using the name Ian Dunbar, who was listed as a director of Arcana Solutions.

The funds were paid out by Arcana Solutions and signed by electronic signature as Ian Dunbar.

Officers found Ian Dunbar and Smith were the same person and he was arrested in 2022.

He also spent the money on “a lavish lifestyle of eating at Mayfair restaurants and purchasing designer clothes, Apple products and flights abroad”, the force added.

The force said he “remained silent throughout all questions put to him” after his arrest.

Detective Inspector Andrea Bakewell, from the fraud operations team at City of London Police, said: “When many businesses were struggling to keep their head above water during the Covid pandemic, criminals were making use of the financial aid on offer.

“Gerald Smith demonstrated an incredible degree of manipulation, conceit and greed as he exploited the bounce-back loan scheme offered by the government.

“This level of exploitation during one of the hardest periods this country has ever faced is something we will not tolerate.”