Gang convicted of £2.5 million Covid scams.

A dozen members of a national ‘organised crime group’ - including nine from Birmingham and the Black Country - have been convicted of fraudulently claiming £2.5 million-worth of Covid-19 support grants. The men, eight from Birmingham, one from Walsall and three from Yorkshire, used non-trading businesses and stolen identities to cash in on support packages set up during the Covid crisis, making hundreds of fraudulent claims for grants, Bounce Back Loans and HMRC support payments.

They appeared before Birmingham Crown Court in two connected trials. Mark Jackson of No.8 Chambers and Lucinda Wilmott-Lascelles (St. Philips Chambers) prosecuting on behalf of Birmingham City Council, said the group was responsible for a very well-planned, sophisticated and sustained attack upon the financial support measures put in place by the UK government to try to support businesses and individuals struggling during the Covid 19 pandemic.

The crime group were responsible for submitting fraudulent applications for at least 53 applications to the Small Business Grant Fund to the total value of more than £530,000 from five local authorities. They obtained public funds in the form of HMRC Self-Assessment and Eat Out To Help Out scheme payments to the value of in excess of £530,000. They also obtained at least 26 Bounce Back loans totalling more than £1.3 million from seven banks. The court head the defendants used more than 50 companies and over 100 bank accounts in the fraud and money laundering operation.

There is to be a two day sentence on the 4th and 5th of November.

Reported details are shown here: Organised crime group.