A top businesswoman has been banned as a company director for 11 years over Covid loan abuse.
Anna Daroy secured £100,000 in Bounce Back Loan funds for her management consultancy Globepoint Associates Ltd in 2020, when it should only have received £50,000.
The 61-year-old, who has had a 35-year career in the public and private sectors advising boards and executive teams, should have repaid one of the loans when she realised her company had received double the amount it was entitled to, the Insolvency Service said.
Daroy served as interim COO and later as interim director general of the Institute of Directors from October 2018 to November 2019.
Six months after leaving her role at the Institute of Directors, she secured two maximum-value £50,000 Bounce Back Loans from separate banks.
Globepoint Associates Ltd went into liquidation in March 2023, with both Bounce Back Loans outstanding.
However Daroy was shortlisted for the Women’s Business Club ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ award last year.
“Anna Daroy abused the Bounce Back Loan Scheme by obtaining two loans when businesses were entitled to just one. When Daroy realised that her company had received double the amount of money it was allowed, she should have repaid one of the loans,” said Kevin Read, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service.
“Bounce Back Loans were designed to provide vital support to struggling businesses during the pandemic, not to be exploited by those who did not follow the terms of the scheme.
“As someone with such extensive experience in senior business leadership roles, Daroy should have known better than to break the rules.”
Daroy, who has held leadership positions at both The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy since the applications, is now banned as a director until September 2036.
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