Coronavirus

Insight | Covid grants blighted by £1.1bn in fraudulent claims

The National Audit Office (NAO) is calling on government to improve its oversight after millions of pounds was fraudulently claimed through Covid grant schemes

23 Mar 2023

Insight

Business

Coronavirus

Insight | Recruiter fraudulently claimed £150k covid loans

The director of a Surrey recruitment agency, specialising in care home staff, has been banned over false claims for two covid loans for £150,000

13 Mar 2023

Insight | Sheffield directors banned for £62k bounce back fraud

Two bosses from Sheffield have been banned for 17 years after hiking turnover to fraudulently claim bounce back loans of £62,000

9 Mar 2023

Insight | HMRC fails to tackle £2.3bn furlough fraud

MPs have criticised HMRC’s performance in tackling Covid-19 support fraud, after recovering only £640,000 of an estimated £2.3bn in furlough payments fraudulently claimed by employers

8 Mar 2023

Insight | Banks paid £4.4bn for defaulted bounce back loans

More than 7% of bounce back loans are in arrears, while banks have claimed billions from the government in compensation for defaulted loans

8 Feb 2023

Insight | Car dealer banned for £50k bounce back fraud

A car dealer has been disqualified as a director for 11 years after fraudulently taking a £50,000 bounce back loan

26 Jan 2023

Insight | Barber jailed over misuse of bounce back loan

A barber has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after sending thousands of pounds from bounce back loan grants to fund the Islamic State in Syria

6 Jan 2023

Insight | Bounce back loan applicant details will not be made public

An attempt to force British Business Bank to publish the details of all companies that applied for covid support loans has failed in court

5 Jan 2023

Insight

Business

Coronavirus

Insight | Retailers banned after abusing £100k covid loans

Directors of Southsea online clothing business and Lewisham convenience store fraudulently claimed £100,000 in bounce back loans

21 Nov 2022

Insight | Suspended sentence for bounce back loan fraudster

A director of a Middlesbrough telecoms company has been given a suspended sentence after fraudulently taking a £25,000 bounce back loan and then dissolving company the next day

16 Nov 2022

Insight | Catering bosses banned over £20k bounce back loan

An Essex-based duo have been disqualified for 16 years after falsely claiming £20,000 in bounce-back loans after exaggerating its turnover by more than seven times the actual amount

25 Oct 2022

Insight | Property boss struck off over £130k bounce back loan

A Scottish-based property director has been disqualified for 12 years after falsely claiming £135,000 in bounce back loans to fund a house purchase

21 Oct 2022

Insight | Restaurant boss banned after £400k accounts hole

A Birmingham-based director was unable to explain transactions totalling over £400,000 and a £25,000 bounce back loan

14 Oct 2022

Tax | HMRC covid fraud recovery team misses £800m target

The dedicated covid fraud taskforce at HMRC has failed to meet targets set for fraud recovery while investigations are taking longer than expected to complete

13 Oct 2022

Tax | Furlough scheme was open to misuse from outset

Employers felt that the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) was open to intentional misuse because of its necessary accessibility, finds HMRC research

13 Oct 2022

Insight | IT director loses £73k furlough appeal

A director of an IT consultancy has lost a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) appeal concerning a claim for furlough payments

10 Oct 2022