Niall Hearty of Rahman Ravelli considers recent successful prosecutions for pandemic fraud.
Twelve members of a crime group were convicted of Covid-19 support grant frauds totalling £2.4 million.
The men, from the Midlands and Yorkshire, used 53 different companies and more than100 bank accounts as part of their fraud and money laundering activities.
They fraudulently obtained:
- More than £530,000 from five local authorities through the Small Business Grant Fund.
- Payments totalling over £530,000 via HMRC self-assessment and Eat Out To Help Out schemes.
- More than £1.3 million by obtaining 26 Bounce Back loans from seven banks.
The group members became directors of companies that were not trading and used stolen identities to make fraudulent applications. The money that was fraudulently obtained was laundered through numerous bank accounts, with the gang opening many accounts themselves and paying other people to use their accounts. It was then moved out of the UK to accounts in the Netherlands and the UAE.
But an investigation by Birmingham City Council's trading standards department discovered that the men were working as part of an organised crime group. Prosecutors acting on behalf of Birmingham City Council told Birmingham Crown Court the men were responsible for "a very well-planned, sophisticated and sustained attack'' upon the UK's pandemic support measures.
Each of the men either entered guilty pleas or were convicted after trial of offences including conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
With more than £7 billion being lost to fraud through Covid-19 schemes such as the Small Business Grant Fund, furlough payments and the Eat Out to Help Out campaign, the sums prosecuted in this case are not so significant. However there remains a positive attitude amongst parliamentary parties and prosecuting authorities to continue to pursue those who used the pandemic to commit fraud.
It is hoped that the appointment of a new Covid fraud commissioner will go some way towards securing more prosecutions in the future.
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