Tomb Raider composer faces 16 months in jail over Covid loan fraud

Peter Connelly, who composed music for the games Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Chronicles, and The Angel of Darkness, has been jailed for 16 months over a fraudulent Covid Bounce Back Loan.

The UK’s Insolvency Service said Connelly overstated his company’s turnover to secure a second Bounce Back Loan of £37,500 in 2020, one month after securing a legitimate bounce back loan of £22,000 at a different bank.

Bounce Back Loans provided businesses with fast access to financial support during the pandemic, but they were only entitled to a single Bounce Back Loan. Connelly overstated his company’s earnings as £150,000 to secure the second loan, which upon analysis by the Insolvency Service were in the £58,000 range.

Connelly was jailed at Durham County Court in the United Kingdom yesterday, Thursday, July 17. He’s disqualified from serving as a company director for six years.

Curiously, Connelly told the Insolvency Service he’d previously been given the potentially lucrative opportunity to reimagine his Tomb Raider music, which he helped fund personally – but that this stalled when the pandemic started. It’s unclear what this project would’ve been connected to.

Connelly is repaying his debts via an Individual Voluntary Agreement with the service.

Connelly also provided music for Core Design’s Herdy Gerdy, and later contributed to the audio design of games The Crew and Watch Dogs.