‘High risk’ furlough cash claims probe
LET’S hope The Coven put in a spellbinding performance when they appear on Britain’s Got Talent this Saturday.
The Huddersfield horror dance troupe will reappear on one of Britain’s biggest star-making TV programmes after scaring the proverbial out of celebrity panellists Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams back in April.
The troupe, comprising girls and young women wearing ‘corpse’ paint and gothic robes, entered the studio bearing flaming torches to the sound of eerie chanting before performing a dance to a cover of the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘It’s A Sin.’
And the troupe – the invention of Alicia and Michaela Brady of Huddersfield-based production company Scandalous – continued to unsettle the panel starring them down as the judges reached their verdicts.
The Coven will perform live alongside 39 other acts from 8pm on Saturday.
Due to social distancing measures, they will appear in front of a virtual audience.
Also watching will be judges Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams. Simon Cowell will be absent after he was involved in an electric bike accident which left him with a broken back.
HM Revenue and Customs is looking into 27,000 “high-risk” claims made under the Government’s furlough scheme, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that a number of criminal investigations were underway into suspected fraud and one arrest had already been made.
It follows the disclosure on Monday by the head of HMRC Jim Harra that up to £3.5 billion may have been paid out in inaccurate or fraudulent claims under the scheme to protect jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said “everything possible” would be done to claw back taxpayers’ money which had been fraudulently claimed.