The Eat Out to Help Out scheme, devised by then Chancellor Rishi Sunak, allowed food outlets to offer a 50 percent discount in order to boost the hospitality sector as Covid restrictions were eased during the summer of 2020.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said this was the first fraud conviction associated with the scheme.

Ikram admitted cheating the public revenue, fraud by false representation, and associated money laundering at a hearing last June. He was jailed on Friday for two years and six months.

Bradford Crown Court was told by prosecutor Timothy Jacobs that the 36-year-old made 19 false claims totalling £434,073 for eight different food outlets which were “entirely fictitious”.

HMRC said Ikram was a member of Keighley Town Council until he resigned in 2022.

Mr Jacobs told the court that eight of the 19 claims were paid by the government, with just over £189,000 being paid into bank accounts held by Ikram’s wife. The court heard how the other 11 claims were rejected.

The court was told how more than half the money paid out has now been recovered by HMRC and that just under £93,000 is outstanding.

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Mr Jacobs said Ikram registered with the scheme and used his own name and telephone number for each claim. The computer IP address used was later traced back to Ikram’s home in Springfield Court, Keighley.

Ikram and his wife were later arrested on June 16 2021 after an investigation by HMRC’s Taxpayer Protection Taskforce and the case against his wife was later dropped.

Mitigating, Nick Worsley, said Ikram had racked up debts of more than £75,000 in relation to “running a care home in Manchester” and “stupidly” saw the scheme “as a way of solving his immediate financial difficulties”.

Mr Worsley told the court Ikram was “a man of good character who has contributed much to the community in a very positive way”. He added that the offending was “an aberration”.

Deputy Circuit Judge Timothy Clayson told him: “Even if I accept your assertion that some of this money was obtained with a view to covering financial obligations, given the sums involved it’s apparent the vast majority of this was motivated by greed.

Director of the fraud investigation service at the HMRC Simon York said: “This was a blatant fraud by somebody who held a position of trust and responsibility. These schemes were designed to support individuals and businesses during a terribly difficult period.

“Instead, Mohammed Ikram stole money which should have been paying for vital public services and helping those who needed it most.”

Mr York added that other Covid-related fraud cases were making their way through the criminal justice system.

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