Tomb Raider Composer Peter Connelly Jailed for Loan Fraud

Image Credit: Tomb Raider video game music composer Peter Connelly

Peter Connelly, a veteran composer known for his work on several classic Tomb Raider titles, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after being found guilty of fraud related to the UK’s Covid-era Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

Connelly, 52, secured a legitimate £22,000 loan in 2020 for his business, Peter Connelly Limited, which provided sound design and music composition services. However, just a month later, he applied for a second loan worth £37,500—this time by falsely inflating his company’s turnover. Under the rules of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, each company was only allowed to apply for one such loan, intended to support small and medium businesses during the financial strains of the pandemic.

The UK Insolvency Service, which uncovered the fraudulent application, noted that Connelly had claimed his company’s earnings were around £150,000, when in fact the turnover was closer to £58,000.

The case was brought before Durham Crown Court, which handed down the 16-month jail term on July 17, 2025. Connelly was also banned from serving as a company director for six years.

According to a statement by the Insolvency Service, Connelly had told investigators that he was trying to fund a project to re-imagine the music from the Tomb Raider series—something he hoped would be financially viable. He even took out personal loans and sold his car to support the endeavor. However, the pandemic halted progress, and his company was eventually liquidated in August 2021, with neither loan repaid.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, stated that Connelly "blatantly disregarded the rules" of the scheme, which was designed to be a lifeline for struggling businesses. “His actions undermined the trust placed in the program and took advantage of taxpayers’ money,” Snasdell added.

Peter Connelly is best known in the gaming world for composing the soundtracks of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Chronicles, and The Angel of Darkness during the series' early years under Core Design. His compositions, including memorable tracks like Jeep Thrills, helped shape the atmosphere and emotional tone of Lara Croft’s adventures during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Outside the Tomb Raider franchise, Connelly also contributed to titles such as Watch Dogs, The Crew, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, and Dead Island 2, showing his range across multiple genres. More recently, he was involved in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, lending additional music and sound effects to the modernized collection of the original trilogy.