Covid-19 grants: Eight 'dodgy' Covid-19 grant applications spotted by council officers in single day

Veritau, which delivers a corporate fraud service to Redcar and Cleveland Council, said the eight potentially fraudulent applications were for support from the Government’s omicron hospitality and leisure grant.

The grant aid was only announced in December by Chancellor Rishi Sunak with one-off funding being distributed to local councils so they can administer it.

Businesses must draw 50 per cent of their income from leisure, hospitality or accommodation, provide an “in-person” service and have been operational on December 30 to be eligible.

They must also reside in premises where they are the business rate payer.

The counter-fraud progress report, which is periodically prepared for members of the council’s governance scrutiny committee, said Veritau was supporting council officers with mandated pre-payment checks required for all applicants.

It said: “These false applications appear to be from organised criminals who make numerous applications to councils. Council officers identified eight potentially false applications in a single day.

“The fraud team have shared intelligence from work with other councils and national contacts to alert staff to potential identities and bank accounts which are being used to perpetrate fraud.”

Veritau said that in the year to date there had been 12 attempts by three parties to incorrectly claim covid-19 grant payments from the council that were blocked, which would have seen £11,600 in funding handed over.

It also said a grant payment again related to support for covid-affected businesses, worth more than £9,500, had been recovered following an investigation.

Work was ongoing to update a counter fraud page on the council’s website, which was expected to go live later this year, which will provide the public with information about the types of fraud which can affect local authorities and how they can report it.

The Government has set up its own 1,200 strong anti-fraud taskforce to help re-claim some of the public money that was paid out following erroneous or fraudulent claims at the height of the pandemic.

In November HM Revenue and Customs said the taskforce was expected to recover £1bn over the next two years.

But this amounts to less to than a quarter of the £4.3bn in fraudulent claims being written off by the Treasury.

Some of the schemes targeted by fraudsters included the coronavirus job support scheme, which supported employers furloughing staff, and another scheme intended to help the self-employed with their income.