Figures showed that 2.5% of the more than £19 billion given in self-employment support was lost to fraud
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has rejected media reports that the government had “written off” £4.3 billion ($5.76 billion) of Covid support that was stolen by fraudsters during the pandemic, despite setting up a taskforce to tackle scammers.
In its annual report, the UK’s tax service, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), outlined some of the fraud that had been witnessed. It said 2.5% of the more than £19 billion ($25.43 billion) given in self-employment support had been lost to fraud.
If the government had written off the loans, it would have meant £1 ($1.34) out of every £4 ($5.36) stolen by fraudsters would have been lost.
“A lot of people are concerned about fraud in our Covid support measures and they’re absolutely right to be. No, I’m not ignoring it, and I’m definitely not ‘writing it off,’” Sunak declared on Twitter on Wednesday.
Admitting that “criminals have sought to exploit our [Covid] support schemes,” the UK chancellor pledged that the government would “do everything” in its power to “go after those who took advantage of the pandemic.”
Sunak’s statement came shortly after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that the government did “not support fraudsters or those who steal from the public purse” in response to a question about the alleged loan write-off.
The UK government recently invested over £100 million in an anti-fraud department within HMRC, where staff have written to 75,000 people as part of enquiries into potentially fraudulent activity.
Initial media reports from UK newspapers suggested that HMRC figures released earlier in January showed the government only expected to be able to claw back a quarter of the money lost to fraudsters through Covid schemes.
On Monday, following those reports, Lord Theodore Agnew, who’d been tasked with leading the efforts to combat Covid loan fraud, resigned in the House of Lords, citing the government’s “lamentable track record” on the issue.
Citing the progress already made, Sunak claimed the government has already halted or recovered around £2.2 billion ($2.95 billion) in alleged fraud from the Bounce Back Loans scheme and £743 million ($995.4 million) from overclaimed furlough grants.
source: RT
Împotriva articolelor redacției noastre, persoanele nemulțumite pot formula Contestație în termen de 10 zile de la publicarea articolului, la judecătoria Orășenească nr. 1 München Bayern Deutschland, in conformitate cu Legea federală Germană. Considerăm că nu se pot formula acțiuni la instanțele din România deoarece nici o persoană care activează în trustul nostru nu poate fi extrasă de sub jurisdicția federală germană. Considerăm că redacția noastră nu răspunde în fața autorităților din România ci doar celor federale sau civile germane. deoarece legea română nu are efecte de extraneitate asupra redacției chiar dacă subiectul știrilor face obiectul unor evenimente sau persoane din România și sunt scrise în limba română. Limba română nu este izvor de extraneitate a legii.
absolvent WEB DESIGN Academia Britanică de Comunicare Iasi - absolvent COMUNICARE IN AFACERI Academia Britanica de Afaceri si Comunicare -absolvent JURNALISM EDITORIAL - London School University - 2019 inscris la echivalare diploma la Universitatea Politehnica Timisoara - absolvent studii de Drept Universitatea Europeană Drăgan, cursuri in Drept la Universitatea de Vest Timisoara, absolvent studii de proiectare, pastor coordonator in Biserica Protestanta Evanghelica,
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