Bradford free school caught in £87K fraud

A Bradford free school has been accused of serious accounting irregularities by the Department for Education (DfE) over misuse of grants, thousands of pounds of false invoices submitted to Whitehall and unsubstantiated national insurance contributions (NICs) for senior staff.

The total misused funds amounted to £87,000 at the Kings Science Academy in Bradford, which was set up two years ago as a free school.

The case was referred to West Yorkshire Police by the school's auditors in August 2012 but no further action was taken. The name of the whistleblower at the accounting firm was redacted in the final DfE report.