Peter Connery, who is familiar to Tomb Raider fans as the original composer and sound designer of the series, is known for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic.fraudulently obtain"Convicted of a £37,500 loan from the UK Government and will serve a 16-month sentence starting yesterday (17 July 2025).
The document was published on the official UK government website through the Insolvency Service. Documents show Connelly obtained two loans for his business, which at the time was only able to obtain one loan. The first loan was obtained in May 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic for £22,000 (approximately US$29,500). The second loan was obtained a month later for £37,500 (approximately $50,000). Insolvency Service chief investigator David Snasdell said Connery "deliberately overstated" the company's turnover in order to obtain a larger loan.
Connery claimed his company had a turnover of £150,000, but in fact it was just over £58,000. In an interview about the loan, he told the Receiver's Office that he was "given the opportunity to reimagine the Tomb Raider soundtrack" and told them the project would be very profitable and significant. He claimed he took steps such as selling his car to pay for the work, but later claimed the project stalled. In August 2021, his company entered liquidation and all the loans he lent have not been repaid.
Connery will repay the loan in several installments during his sentence and is banned from being a director of any company for the next six years.
Snasdell said: "Peter Connelly blatantly ignored the provisions of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which was designed to support small and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic. Not only did Connelly obtain two loans when the business could only access one, he also deliberately inflated the company's turnover to obtain more funding than it was entitled to."
Connelly is not the first high-profile figure in the video game industry to be convicted of financial crimes. "Sonic" co-creator Yuji Naka (whose last major work was "Balan's Fantasy World") was also arrested for insider trading and sentenced to probation.