Public Sector

Five addresses in West Yorkshire were raided in an operation involving almost 40 officers yesterday morning.

The group were arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering offences as part of a national operation investigating fraud committed against over 100 local authorities giving out Covid business grants.

Finance manager Stephen Bower told the council’s audit and standards committee that sophisticated online ‘phishing’ attempts and scams targeting the council are part of a national picture of criminal gang activity.

Some frauds involve attempting to get a payout on fake bank mandates. “Luckily, we haven’t had any cases as a result of that,” said Mr Bower.

A fraudster who used false prescriptions to get £40,000 worth of drugs has been jailed.

Liam Brickley, 49, was able to obtain oxycodone and diazepam from pharmacies across Luton and Dunstable in Bedfordshire over a two-year period, by using 92 false prescriptions in four different alias names.

A Nottinghamshire council leader has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges including fraud, money laundering and possession of cocaine.

Councillor Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), who leads Ashfield District Council, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Friday (July 21).

The UK government is aiming to save £1.3 billion a year by tackling public sector fraud. Niall Hearty of financial crime specialists Rahman Ravelli assesses the chances of the target being met.

In a bold announcement, the UK government has set itself the target of saving £1.3 billion in this financial year by tackling public sector fraud.

The number of compliance staff in the public sector halved during the pandemic, contributing to a potential five-fold increase in fraud according to analysis by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) of the whole of government accounts. The campaign group accuses ministers of failing to grasp the severity of the fraud crisis.

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/government_accounts_compliance_staff_halved_as_fraud_boomed_during_the_pandemic

More than half of all company directors struck off in Britain in the past 15 months were involved in alleged fraud or abuse of Covid-19 financial support schemes, official figures have revealed.

There were 1,200 directors disqualified between 1 April last year and 30 June this year, with 611 of the cases involving abuse of Covid-19 schemes, mainly in relation to taxpayer-backed bounce-back loans. About £1.1bn of loans have already been flagged as suspected fraud or error.

The owner of Fleetwood Town football club, Andy Pilley, has been jailed after being found guilty of fraud and money laundering totalling around £15 million.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison at Preston Crown Court.

Ray Dorney talks us through Rockford Associates Limited’s Accounts Payable Recovery Audits used to detect and prevent overpayments in the public sector and beyond

The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) matches data from 1,300 public sector and 77 private sector organisations, including police authorities, local probation boards, fire and rescue authorities as well as local councils, NHS Trusts and other agencies. It flags up inconsistencies in data that may indicate fraud, errors, and potential overpayments, signalling the need for participating organisations to further review those findings, conduct internal investigation with Accounts Payable Recovery Audits and implement any necessary corrective actions – which is no small task.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a plan to stop billions of pounds being lost in benefits fraud and error. The new drive will widen powers to include executing warrants, search and seizure of evidence, and even making arrests.

A total of 8,691 investigations into alleged benefit fraud were opened by the DWP up to the end of March 2023. It comes as more than 20 million people across the UK claim some form of benefit from the department, including Universal Credit and the state pension.