Investment group backed by ex-Tesco boss probed over allegations of £2m Covid loan misuse May 11, 2022 We Are Nova, a start-up investment group with support from ex-Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy, is being probed over claims it misused Covid loans. According to The Times newspaper, companies associated with We Are Nova netted almost £2m through the government’s bounce back loan scheme. However, the firms did not seem to be eligible for [...]
Londoner accused of using Covid bounce back loans to fund Isis May 3, 2022 Thousands of pounds worth of taxpayer backed Covid loans have allegedly been used to fund terrorist activities abroad.
MPs say government was ‘complacent’ on Covid fraud in new report April 27, 2022 The government was “complacent in preventing fraud” against the Covid Bounce Back Loan Scheme and will lose almost £5bn to scammers, according to a Westminster committee. MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the £47bn loan scheme – which saw the government take on 100 per cent of default risk – was delivered at [...]
Relaxed subsidies rules are a free rein to pick winners without transparency March 16, 2022 Not too long ago the thorniest issue in the United Kingdom’s relationship with Europe was about the “level playing field” and “state aid”. It may seem crazy in retrospect, but there was a serious prospect in late 2020 that the UK would sacrifice a trade deal with our closest neighbour to be freer to subsidise [...]
Ex-minister: Billions lost in Covid fraud ‘one of biggest cock-ups’ in recent history March 15, 2022 Billions of taxpayer money lost through Covid loan fraud is “one of the most colossal cock-ups in recent government management”, the ex-fraud minister has said. Lord Theodore Agnew told MPs on Westminster’s business committee that he was told to “butt out” by Treasury officials when he tried to crack down on fraudsters taking out Covid [...]
Starmer attacks PM and ‘loan shark chancellor’ over Covid fraud February 9, 2022 Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at the government over the billions of pounds lost to Covid fraud, accusing Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak of “turning a blind eye to scammers”. The Labour leader also labelled Sunak today as the “loan shark chancellor” over his recently unveiled package of measures aimed to reduce household energy [...]
Treasury’s £4.3bn fraud write-off likely to be eclipsed by £20bn Covid loan defaults as CBILs and BBLs are not repaid February 8, 2022 The £4.3bn of Covid loans that may have to be written-off by The Treasury due to fraud and highlighted by the recent resignation of Lord Agnew, could be eclipsed by businesses failing to repay their CBILs and BBLs Covid support loans, an industry expert warns. £73.8bn has been loaned under the above schemes to around [...]
Sunak says he is not ‘ignoring’ the billions of pounds of Covid fraud January 26, 2022 Rishi Sunak has moved to assure people he is not “ignoring” or “writing off” billions of pounds stolen from the government’s Covid support schemes. The chancellor today said that “criminals sought to exploit our support schemes”, but that “we’re doing everything we can to get that money back”. Treasury minister lord Theodore Agnew resigned spectacularly [...]
Angry Lord Agnew says Boris Johnson ‘failed spectacularly as fraud in government is rampant’ at £30bn a year January 25, 2022 The Tory minister who quit yesterday in what has been described as “one of the most dramatic moments ever seen” in the House of Lords has claimed that fraud is rampant in the Government. Lord Agnew of Oulton had been the minister for efficiency and transformation before announcing his resignation at the despatch box and [...]
Treasury minister quits over government’s ‘lamentable’ Covid fraud record January 24, 2022 A Treasury minister resigned today over the government’s “lamentable” record on Covid fraud, after billions were stolen from Covid support schemes. Lord Theodore Agnew – previously responsible for government efficiency – said oversight of the Covid loan schemes by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) and the British Business Bank had been [...]