Midlands arrest in £495k furlough fraud probe

A 57-year-old Solihull man has become the first person to be arrested in connection with an alleged fraud of the Government furlough scheme.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had arrested him in connection with allegations of a £495,000 fraud of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

HMRC said it was the first such arrest to happen.

Officers executed a search warrant, seizing computers and other digital devices, while funds held in a bank account relating to the arrested man’s business have been frozen.

Richard Las, acting director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is part of the collective national effort to protect jobs.

“The vast majority of employers will have used the CJRS responsibly, but we will not hesitate to act on reports of abuse of the scheme.

“This is taxpayers’ money and any claim that proves to be fraudulent limits our ability to support people and deprives public services of essential funding.

“As usual, we have built steps in to prevent mistakes and fraud happening in the first place, but anyone who is concerned that their employer might be abusing the scheme should report it to HMRC online.”

More than £27.4 billion has been claimed through the scheme, supporting 1.1 million employers and 9.4 million furloughed jobs.

HMRC added that the man was also arrested in relation to a suspected multimillion-pound tax fraud and alleged money laundering offences. A further eight men from across the region have also been detained as part of the investigation, which involved 100 HMRC officers. Computers, digital devices, and business and personal records were also seized during the raids.