Thomas Cattee considers how the covid-19 bounce back loan scheme may have been subject to fraud
News that up to £17bn of over £47bn credit provided through covid-19 related loans will not be repaid makes for depressing reading. Further reports that as much as £4.9bn of the credit was taken by fraudsters will be angrily received, not least by those who had to tighten the purse strings over Christmas. Anti-fraud measures were implemented late and appear to have been under-resourced and inadequate. Rectifying this should now be a priority, such that individuals that have abused this scheme should now fear focused investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution efforts. However, are there the resources to do so properly?
As part of the covid-19 emergency lending program, the Bounce Back Loan scheme (BBL), the ...
