The UK’s fight against fraud is a case of ‘too little too late’ with lessons to learn from the US approach, argue Andrew Durant, senior managing director and Gareth Eklund, senior consultant at FTI Consulting
The UK government announced in April that over 450 company directors were disqualified for Covid-19 financial support scheme abuse in the past 12 months. But has the door shut after the horse has already bolted?
Current estimates suggest that around £10bn of taxpayers’ money has been lost to fraud and error in relation to the bounce back loan and furlough schemes alone, and details relating to the losses associated with Covid-related PPE contracts are only just coming to light.
Stepping back from Covid-related fraud, the government’s own estimate is that over £50bn of UK taxpayers’ money is lost to fraud and error every year. This is without even considering Covid-related fraud. This figure may even be higher, because outside of the tax and benefits systems, there is still no formal measurement or adequate capacity to deal with fraud and error.
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