UK Won’t Recover Majority of Billion-Pound Covid Fraud Losses
- Accounts reveal £990 million of ‘irregular’ grant payments
- Loan program allowed firms to self-certify eligibilty
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Almost £1 billion of fraudulent or erroneous cash handouts made to businesses during the Covid pandemic are unlikely to be returned to UK taxpayers, according to the government.
In its annual accounts for the period 2021-22, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said its central estimate for “irregular” grant payments was £990 million.