A 42-year-old man has been accused of sending thousands of pounds in Covid support loans to fund Islamic State fighters in Syria.

Tarek Namouz faces eight charges of entering into a terror funding arrangement between November 2020 and May 2021.

He is also accused of two counts of possessing terrorist information relating to videos.

Yesterday the former pub landlord from London appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Wandsworth jail.

Namouz, who has still not entered a plea, is due to stand trial at Kingston Crown Court from November 21.

The defendant, of no fixed address, spoke only to confirm his identity, was remanded into custody.

The Government’s bounce back loans scheme was meant to help businesses recover after suffering heavy blows due to lockdown restrictions.

Banks could lend up to £50,000 to businesses, and if companies didn’t pay it back, the taxpayer would cover the lender’s losses.

It provided a huge amount of support, much of it lifesaving for small firms across the UK.

Around 1.5million companies received loans of up to £50,000 or a quarter of annual turnover.

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