Public Sector

A new HMRC "taskforce" will begin a crackdown on payments made during the Covid crisis. A new HMRC fraud and error taskforce has been established in a bid to claw back overpayments made to UK taxpayers during the Covid pandemic.

The Treasury confirmed: "We have set up the £100m Taxpayer Protection Taskforce of 1,200 HMRC staff to combat fraud, one of the largest and quickest responses to a fraud risk by HMRC. 13,000 one-to-one fraud and error enquiries were opened in 20/21 and HMRC wrote to 75,000 people. We have so far stopped or recovered £743m of overclaimed grants in 20/21.

The former owner of a Derbyshire curry house who was sent to prison for Covid fraud has been ordered to repay more than £36,000.

Syed Hussain was jailed for 18 months and banned as a company director for three years in August 2023 after admitting charges of fraud by false representation and an offence under the Companies Act.

A Manchester restaurant manager who fraudulently obtained two Covid loans worth £100,000 and spent taxpayers’ money on jewellery has been handed a suspended sentence.

Sehrish Yasmin was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday 16 May.

The 32-year-old was also ordered to pay costs and compensation totalling £5,000 within 28 days.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed that tens of thousands of benefit recipients were found to be breaking the rules in a trial of the DWP's plans to scrutinise people's bank accounts. The Government is looking to pass legislation that will require third parties, such as banks and building societies, to share information with the DWP.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/thousands-benefit-claimants-found-breaching-082930348.html

The UK National Audit Office is renewing its focus on helping the government deliver value for money by preventing fraud and error – potentially saving billions for the UK taxpayers

Our main role at the UK National Audit Office (NAO) is to give Parliament and taxpayers assurance that public money is properly accounted for and well spent.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released hapless photoshop fails sent in by benefit fraudsters - trying to prove they live in the UK. The doctored images include photos of men and women pasted into various scenes and outside homes.

They were sent to benefit officials by scammers who were asked to provide evidence they live in Britain. One shows a woman holding a toddler, another a couple outside a home - but are all clearly fake photoshopped images.

Fraudsters have stolen almost £1 billion from the Ministry of Defence since 2010, official figures show.

The disclosure has prompted accusations that the MoD is seen as a “soft touch for thieves and corrupt government officials”, according to one senior civil servant.

The figures show that almost every area of defence, from personal expenses to the procurement of weapons, aircraft, and ships, has fallen victim to fraud costing the country millions.

Procurement fraud has sent costs soaring at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), after new figures revealed it had led to 90 per cent of detected fraud value since 2020.

A written question, tabled by Maria Eagle in April, required the Government to find cases of fraud in the MoD since the Conservatives came to power 14 years ago.

The Department for Work and Pensions has been told to tighten up loopholes in Universal Credit that are being exploited by fraudsters. The Public Accounts Committee called for full checks to be reinstated as it raised doubts about whether Universal Credit was any improvement on older 'legacy benefits' in terms of preventing bogus claims.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/dwp-told-tighten-up-universal-29079963

Lancashire police have said they are ‘reviewing the available information’ after receiving a complaint about the Fylde MP.

Lawyers told the Conservative Party that MP Mark Menzies’ alleged misuse of campaign funds may have constituted fraud, but there was no duty to report it, a whistleblower has claimed.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2024/04/19/tories-were-told-mark-menzies-claims-constituted-fraud-says-whistleblower/