TOMB RAIDER COMPOSER JAILED FOR COVID LOAN FRAUD

[ 19 July 2025 ]

Peter Connelly, a British video game composer known for his contributions to the Tomb Raider franchise, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison following an investigation by the Insolvency Service into his misuse of government Covid-19 support funds. Mr. Connelly was found to have fraudulently obtained a second Bounce Back Loan for his company by significantly overstating its turnover and failing to declare an earlier loan.

Mr. Connelly, who composed music for Tomb Raider The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider Chronicles, and Tomb Raider The Angel of Darkness, applied for a 37,500 UKP Bounce Back Loan in June 2020, one month after receiving a 22,000 UKP loan through the same scheme. The rules of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, introduced to support small businesses during the pandemic, allowed for only one application per business. Investigators determined that Connelly had inflated his company's turnover to meet the loan criteria and failed to disclose the prior loan.

The Insolvency Service confirmed that Mr. Connelly's company, Peter Connelly Limited, entered liquidation in August 2021, and that neither of the loans had been repaid. The composer subsequently entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in June 2022, committing to a schedule of repayments through a licensed insolvency practitioner. In addition to his prison sentence, Mr. Connelly has been disqualified from serving as a company director for six years.

In a statement, the Insolvency Service noted that Connelly's actions had violated the intent of a scheme designed to provide vital financial support during a national crisis. While Mr. Connelly had cited stalled creative projects and financial strain at the start of the pandemic as motivating factors, investigators concluded that the misconduct constituted a serious breach of public trust.

Peter Connelly