‘Tomb Raider’ composer jailed for COVID loan fraud

Composer Peter Connelly in the Ubisoft Studios in 2013. (Peter Connelly)

Video game composer Peter Connelly, known for his work on the “Tomb Raider” franchise, has been jailed 16 months in the U.K. for COVID loan fraud.

According to a release Friday from the U.K.’s Insolvency Service, 52-year-old Connelly overstated his company’s turnover to obtain a second COVID Bounce Back Loan in 2020 when businesses were only entitled to a single loan.

He obtained approximately $69,000 in his second loan in June 2020 after receiving approximately $41,000 in his first loan a month prior.

Connelly claimed his company’s turnover — the total revenue that a company makes through its goods and services in a certain time frame — was approximately $277,000 in 2019 when it was actually closer to $107,000, an Insolvency Service analysis revealed.

“Peter Connelly blatantly disregarded the rules of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, designed to support small and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic,” David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, wrote in a statement.

Durham, U.K.-based Connelly composed the soundtracks for several video games including “Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation” (1999), “Tomb Raider: Chronicles” (2000) and co-composed “Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness” (2003). He also worked on “The Fast and the Furious” (2006), “Watch Dogs” (2014) and “South Park: The Fractured but Whole (2017)” games in various audio positions.

In 2018, he announced a fan-funded initiative called “Tomb Raider: The Dark Angel Symphony,” a studio album that would reimagine music from the “Tomb Raider” games he scored.

A Kickstarter campaign was launched at the end of the year to finance the production of the album.

According to the Insolvency Service, Connelly told the agency that the project had the potential to be “very lucrative.”

As a result, Connelly said he had taken out personal loans and sold his car to complete the project.

The project was halted due to the pandemic and Connelly’s business, Peter Connelly Limited, went into liquidation in August 2021, according to the Insolvency Service.

With neither loan repaid, Connelly entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in June 2022, a legally binding agreement where he would make regular payments to an insolvency practitioner to repay his debts.

The IVA remains active, the Insolvency Service said.

Connelly has also been banned as a company director for six years.