
A Devon private hire driver who cynically exploited pandemic financial support to buy a flat abroad, a pizza oven and a car, has been ordered to pay back more than £60,000.
Murat Dogantekin, 52, of Exeter, had a confiscation order of £63,790 issued against him at Exeter Crown Court, reflecting the value of available assets identified by Insolvency Service financial investigators.
]He has been given three months to clear the sum, failing which he faces another five years behind bars while still remaining liable for the debt.
Dogantekin previously received a prison sentence of two years and seven months in February 2025 after investigators uncovered that he fraudulently secured £100,000 in Bounce Back Loans.
In 2020, he inflated the turnover of his taxi business by more than £350,000 to obtain two separate maximum loans of £50,000 each from different banks.
During his applications, Dogantekin claimed an annual turnover of over £200,000 for two separate self-employed taxi ventures, even naming the second one after a client to create the false impression of a separate trading entity.
In reality, he had declared earnings of just £16,500 for the preceding tax year, meaning he overstated his income by £388,500. Had he reported his true earnings, he would have been eligible for a single loan of only £4,125. His dishonesty meant he received an additional £95,875 he did not deserve.
Financial tracing revealed that Dogantekin used £48,000 of the illicit funds to purchase a two-bedroom property in Turkey, alongside spending £2,840 on a Peugeot and £800 on a pizza oven.
He failed to make any loan repayments before being declared bankrupt in November 2021, and subsequently ignored multiple attempts by officials to secure records and interview him under caution.
Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said: “Bounce Back Loans were designed to support small and medium-sized businesses through the pandemic. They were not handed out to taxi drivers to spend on properties and pizza ovens.
"Murat Dogantekin cynically exploited the scheme and our investigations ensured he was jailed for his fraudulent actions. The Insolvency Service will continue to pursue Covid fraudsters and use every available power to recover money obtained through criminality.”

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