Public Sector

In 2019, the UK Department for Work and Pensions published their two-part staff guide on conducting fraud investigations. Privacy International went through the 995 pages to understand how those investigations happen and how the DWP is surveilling benefits claimants suspected of fraud.

The Cabinet Office has begun a consultation on the expansion of data matching as part of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI).

A sheriff is considering whether a report into fraud allegations made by a council whistleblower nearly two decades ago should be handed over to him by local authority chiefs.

Royal Engineer Lloyd Hamilton misused taxpayers' money to send his children to one of the country's most expensive boarding schools.

A former school finance manager has pleaded guilty to committing fraud by abuse of position after spending more than £15,000 on personal purchases using a school’s corporate card.

Warning that schools are vulnerable to fraud during the pandemic when internal controls 'may have slipped'                            

The government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) has seen lenders lend nearly £20bn to over 80,000 businesses amid Covid-19. The scheme-ch one of several state-backed packages- launched on March 23 last year and saw the government guaranteeing 80 per cent of loans up to £5m to SMEs.

Three men working for a London financial institution have been arrested by the National Crime Agency as part of an investigation into fraudulent Bounce Back Loan claims totalling £6 million.

THE NHS has warned the public to be vigilant as scammers take advantage of the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine to commit fraud.

Governments around the world have put in place support schemes to reduce the economic impact on entities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic conditions are likely to incentivise fraud and these schemes may be abused. Combined with additional opportunities for fraud arising from remote working and changes to control environments, the risk of fraud is heightened for most entities. Although ISA 240 notes that the primary responsibility for prevention and detection of fraud rests with management and those charged with governance of the entity, auditors also need to be vigilant.