{
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    "date": "2025-10-10T09:59:10",
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        "rendered": "English Man Gets Prison Time After Spending Covid Loan on Crypto and Gambling"
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        "rendered": "<div>\n<div>\n<h4 color=\"#333\">In brief<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>An English business owner was sentenced to 22 months in prison for fraudulently securing a Covid-era loan and spending it on crypto, gambling, and personal expenses.<\/li>\n<li>The man used a first loan legitimately for his glass-fitting business, but illegally received a second loan and used the funds improperly.<\/li>\n<li>Ioannou must also now pay \u00a340,000 in restitution and work 150 unpaid hours, according to the UK Insolvency Service.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The head of a rural English glass-fitting company has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison, after illegally using a Covid-19-era loan from the government on gambling and crypto.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Haralambos Ioannou, of Cow Lane, Edlesborough, was sentenced this week to 22 months in custody and 150 hours of unpaid labor for illegally securing two \u00a350,000 (about $66,500) Covid Bounce Back loans from the British government, and then using the second loan for personal expenditures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During Covid, businesses were only permitted to receive one such payment. Ioannou managed to get approved for two Bounce Back loans in the summer of 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While he properly used the first \u00a350,000 to fund his glass-fitting company, also known as a glazing firm, he then used the second payment on crypto investments, gambling sites, cash withdrawals, and payments to his now ex-wife.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ioannou was also ordered today to pay \u00a340,000 (about $53,200) in restitution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The UK Insolvency Service, which handles financial misconduct, did not immediately respond to <\/span><i><span>Decrypt<\/span><\/i><span>\u2019s request for comment asking whether Ioannou\u2019s required unpaid work will consist of glazing or another form of labor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It also did not clarify which crypto apps or specific tokens the 49 year-old glazer invested his ill-gotten funds in. Approximately \u00a38,000 ($10,650) of the loan money was transferred to \u201cinvestment and crypto investment\u201d companies, according to the Insolvency Service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Another \u00a325,000 ($33,250) was sent to gambling companies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During the lockdown heyday of 2020, the decentralized finance ecosystem <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/52298\/the-2020-year-in-review-defi\" target=\"_blank\"><span>exploded<\/span><\/a><span>, with the value of funds locked in the ecosystem growing more than 20 times over. <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/what-is-bitcoin-four-minute-instant-guide-explainer\" target=\"_blank\">Bitcoin<\/a> doubled in price by year\u2019s end; <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/what-is-ethereum-quickly-explained-four-minute-guide\" target=\"_blank\">Ethereum<\/a> more than quadrupled.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Daily Debrief Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p>Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>",
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