Mr Moon, first elected in Labour's 2024 landslide after a career in communications and marketing, is listed on Companies House as co-director of Autoswot, a training company set up in June 2019 that had forecast revenues of more than £200,000 at the time. It last filed accounts in June 2021.
Mr Moon said he applied for the maximum Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 within the rules, regularly sought professional advice about the company's obligations, and used the loan for "staffing and other essential business costs" during the pandemic. Partial repayments were made until the company ceased trading in late 2022, when he said it folded due to unforeseen external market pressures, "despite the best efforts of staff".
The Bounce Back Loan scheme, launched in May 2020, was the biggest of the government's pandemic-era loan programmes. Loans of up to £50,000 carried a 100% government guarantee, meaning taxpayers covered bank losses if companies failed. A government report found the scheme was vulnerable to fraud and error, and the Covid counter-fraud commissioner later estimated total fraud and error at up to £2.8bn to the public purse.
The BBC reported that Mr Moon was repeatedly assured in writing by Companies House that no accounts needed to be filed after the company applied to be struck off, but that the guidance was incorrect.
"In order for these matters to be looked into, I have voluntarily referred myself to the Labour Party's investigations process and will cooperate fully with this process," Mr Moon said. "The loan application was made in good faith, and the information provided, including the company's turnover forecast, was accurate and properly based."
A Labour Party spokesperson confirmed Mr Moon had referred himself for investigation. "The Labour Party expects the highest standards from our elected representatives and we have robust processes in place to ensure those high standards are upheld," they said. "We cannot comment further while the investigation is ongoing."
It is the second investigation the party has launched into pandemic loans. In August, Bayo Alaba, the MP for Southend East and Rochford, was suspended after referring himself for investigation over loans made to Alaba Properties, a real estate company. At the time, Mr Alaba said: "There has been no attempt to avoid my financial obligations, and I am wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that the liability is met in full."
James McMurdock, who now sits as an independent, was the first MP questioned over Bounce Back Loans, worth £70,000, given to two fitness companies. He quit Reform in 2025, saying all his business dealings had been compliant with the rules and that after taking "specialist legal advice" he had decided "to continue my parliamentary career as an independent MP".