Inadequate checks enabled fraudsters to steal billions from bounce-back scheme, say auditors
The government failed to guard properly against fraud in its £47bn Covid emergency lending programme for small businesses, opening itself up to billions of pounds of losses, a watchdog has said.
The bounce-back loan scheme launched in May 2020 and did not include credit checks or fully verify the identity of small businesses applying for loans, the National Audit Office, which scrutinises public-sector spending, said.
