As was announced and reported in Personnel Today, the first high profile cases or fraudulent use of the Job Retention Scheme has led to arrest. The arrests were made in London and the two involved have been taken in connection with an HMRC investigation which suspected a fraud amount of £70,000.
A 43-year-old accountant from Romford was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation, fraud by abuse of position and money laundering.
Furlough fraud and a 51-year-old company director from Walthamstow was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and money laundering.
Both have been released under investigation and digital devices and business records have been seized.
In the article, Terry Braithwaite, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: “The CJRS is part of the collective national effort to protect jobs. While most employers have used the scheme responsibly, this is taxpayers’ money and HMRC will not hesitate to act on reports of abuse of the scheme.”
HMRC has confirmed it has now paid out more than £35.4bn through the CJRS to support 1.2 million employers and 9.6 million furloughed employees and it has estimated that up to £3.6bn in payments have been claimed in error or through fraud since the scheme commenced. HMRC is now review 27,000 high risk cases where they believe too much has been claimed under the scheme and begun writing to approximately 3000 organisations per week where they believe they have overclaimed.
Remember, if you believe you have overclaimed through error you must repay these amounts and this can be either through telling HMRC as part of your next online furlough claim, or contact HMRC on 0300 322 9430 to pay the money back.
Those who have over-claimed a CJRS grant must notify HMRC by the latest of either:
- 90 days after the date they received the grant they were not entitled to
- 90 days after the date they received the grant that they were no longer entitled to keep because their circumstances changed
- 20 October 2020
