Date Time
UK Government makes progress on Economic Crime Plan to tackle fraud and economic crime
The government has today published an update on its progress in tackling economic crime and delivering on its ambition to ensure the UK remains a transparent, safe and open place for global business.
The Economic Crime Plan, launched in 2019 following approval by the Economic Crime Strategic Board (ECSB), set out an ambitious programme of work to tackle fraud and money laundering and set out how the UK’s public and private sectors would work together to improve our response to economic crime.
The statement of progress today is published following a meeting of the ECSB in February. It sets out how the government has worked through the coronavirus pandemic to tackle economic criminals and disrupt hostile actors.
A review of the UK’s foreign and security policies will advocate more investment by, and trade with, Chinese interests, as well as increased protection of critical assets.
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Emergency loans and grant schemes have been provided by governments to keep businesses afloat. The British “bounce back” scheme, which was massively bilked by international criminals, is far from exceptional.
Fraudsters created 25,000 duplicate applications that got through the threadbare checking system. Over £1 billion was paid out by the British government to companies with offshore accounts, largely in the Balkan states, and which will never be retrieved.
In fact, this was only 4 per cent of the total paid out on the scheme - £23 billion – and the UK government will excuse its lack of control on the need to act with alacrity in an emergency.