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.
