Tomb Raider Composer Jailed Over COVID-19 Fraud

Tomb Raider video game composer Peter Connelly has been sentenced to jail for COVID-19 loan fraud, the British government has announced. The Tomb Raider series was officially cited in the circumstances leading up to his conviction.

Peter Connelly, not to be confused with the long-time Microsoft Game Studios executive of the same name, is a British composer with over 60 video game credits spanning four decades. He worked on half a dozen games starring Lara Croft, ranging from the 1998 Tomb Raider 3 to the 2025 Tomb Raider 4–6 Remastered.

During a July 17 hearing at Durham Crown Court, Connelly was sentenced to a 16-month jail sentence for COVID-19 loan fraud. His case centered on the UK's Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), introduced to support small businesses throughout the 2020 pandemic, which caused many economic activities to grind to a halt. Under the British government's rules, each business was entitled to take out one loan based on legitimate revenue figures. However, Connelly submitted multiple applications, one of which was fraudulent in more than one way, as per the government's press release outlining the outcome of his case.

Peter Connelly's Video Game Credits

Game	Year	Platform(s)	Credit(s)
Tomb Raider 4–6 Remastered	2025	Windows	Music & Sound FX
Tomb Raider 1–3 Remastered	2024	Windows	Additional Sound Effects
Dead Island 2	2023	Windows	Audio Director
Project Cars 3	2020	Windows	Special Thanks
Fast & Furious: Crossroads	2020	Windows	Special Thanks
South Park: The Fractured But Whole	2017	Windows	Sound Design
Champions of Anteria	2016	Windows	Additional Sound Design & Cutscene Mixing
Blackguards 2	2015	Windows	Music Production
The Crew	2014	Windows	Additional Audio Design, Radio Jingle Composition
Watch_Dogs	2014	Windows	Audio Design
1954: Alcatraz	2014	Windows	Sound Effects
Driver: San Francisco	2011	Windows	Audio Design
Horrid Henry: Missions of Mischief	2009	Nintendo DS	Music & Sound (via Universal Sound Design Ltd)
Speed Zone	2009	Wii	Music, Speech, Sound Effects
PopStar Guitar	2008	PlayStation 2	Sound Effects (via Universal Sound Design Ltd)
Emergency Heroes	2008	Wii	Additional Orchestration
Hot Wheels: Beat That!	2007	PlayStation 2	Audio Management
Free Running	2007	PlayStation 2	Special Thanks
Cartoon Network Racing	2006	PlayStation 2	Audio Management, Sound Design
D.I.R.T.: Origin of the Species	2006	Windows	Music
The Fast and the Furious	2006	PlayStation 2	Sound Management
Hummer: Badlands	2006	PlayStation 2	Sound Effects
MTV Pimp My Ride	2006	PlayStation 2	Audio Management, Sound Design
Smart Bomb	2005	PSP	Music
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Angel of Darkness	2003	PlayStation 2	Cutscene and FMV Audio
Herdy Gerdy	2002	PlayStation 2	Music and Sound Effects
Tomb Raider: Chronicles	2000	Dreamcast	Music
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation	1999	PlayStation / 2000 Dreamcast	Music & Sound FX
Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft	1998	PlayStation	Additional Sound Effects
Flesh Feast	1998	Windows	Sound
Mass Destruction	1997	PlayStation	Sound and Music

In May 2020, Connelly secured a £22,000 BBLS loan. A month later, he applied again with a different bank, securing a £37,500 loan based on a declared company turnover of £150,000. In August 2021, his company—Peter Connelly Ltd.—went into liquidation, with neither loan being repaid at the time. Not only did he falsely declare his second application was the only BBLS loan he sought at the time, but the Insolvency Service found that the £150,000 turnover figure was false, determining his actual 2019 revenue was just above £58,000.

Connelly told the Insolvency Service that he had been given the opportunity to re-imagine the music for the Tomb Raider soundtrack. This was a significant project which had the potential to be very lucrative, he added.

"Connelly told the Insolvency Service that he had been given the opportunity to re-imagine the music for the Tomb Raider soundtrack," the agency said in a prepared statement. "This was a significant project which had the potential to be very lucrative, he added." Based on the timing of these events, Connelly was presumably referring to the two Tomb Raider remaster collections, the first of which was announced in 2023 and released a year later. The composer told investigators that the funds were intended to support the project while it stalled due to the pandemic, adding that he had already taken out some personal loans and even sold his car to stay afloat at the time.

In June 2022, Connelly entered into an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) with the government, committing to repay his debts through regular payments. Apart from a 16-month jail sentence, the 52-year-old composer was also banned from serving as a company director for six years as part of the July 17 court decision. His conviction underlines ongoing efforts by British authorities to prosecute abuse of emergency pandemic relief programs.