Ex-pub landlord denies ‘funding terror with Covid bounce back loans’

A former pub landlord who is accused of collecting thousands of pounds in Covid ‘bounce back’ loans to send to ISIS has denied terror charges.

Tarek Namouz, 42, allegedly claimed the government aid between November 2020 and May 2021 when it was offered to help businesses during the pandemic.

At Kingston crown court on Thursday, he pleaded not guilty to entering into an arrangement for money or other property to be made available to another which may be used for terrorism, and eight counts of entering into funding an arrangement.

Namouz, appearing in court via videolink from HMP Wandsworth, also denied two counts of possessing terrorist information in the form of two videos.

Namouz, a former pub landlord in Wood Green, north London, has been remanded in custody until a two-week trial which is due to start on November 21.

Judge Peter Lodder QC, the Recorder of Kensington and Westminster, presided over the hearing, as Namouz spoke only to confirm his identity and enter not guilty pleas.