FRAUDSTERS who targeted six local authority Covid grant schemes - including in Herefordshire - have been sentenced. 

A collaborative investigation was launched by the National Investigation Service (NATIS), working with the affected local authorities, including Herefordshire Council’s Counter Fraud Service.

In May 2020, the fraudsters pretended to be Greggs in order to make false claims for grants via the relief scheme that was designed to help struggling businesses during the pandemic.

RELATED NEWS:

The frauds were perpetrated in an organised and calculated manner by individuals impersonating genuine business ratepayers. For example, in the fraud against Herefordshire, fraudsters sent correspondence directly to the Council with genuine business rate account numbers that were used to support the false applications for grants.

While investigators were unable to identify who had directly submitted the fraudulent applications, the trail of grant money was followed and three individuals were identified to have been actively involved in the scam as money mules, allowing their bank accounts to receive and subsequently transfer the fraudulently obtained funds into overseas accounts.

Investigators acted quickly to freeze bank accounts and to circulate intelligence to other local authorities. This was only the start of what turned out to be a complex three-year investigation.

In total, the fraudsters defrauded the councils out of £455,000, which included £110,000 from Herefordshire Council. However, an investigation from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) found that their total crimes amounted to them defrauding victims out of more than £2million. 

OTHER NEWS:

David Farrah-Tunnicliffe, aged 51, of Atlingworth Street, Brighton, was sentenced to seven years and six months after pleading guilty to one count of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement, one count of converting criminal property, transferring criminal property and removing criminal property from England and Wales, and our counts of fraud.

His crimes in Herefordshire amounted to a jail sentence of four years and two months. 

Meanwhile, Clark Slimmon, 45, of Sanyhils Avenue, Patcham, and David Harper, 45, of Atlingworth Street, Brighton, both received suspended prison sentences, as well as being handed community orders after pleading guilty to the charges they faced. 

Confiscation orders are subsequently due to be submitted to the courts to start the process of recovering the grant funding.

Councillor Pete Stoddard, cabinet member for finance and corporate services, said: “Unfortunately, the pandemic was a time that saw a great deal of fraudulent activity, targeting the unprecedented levels of financial support that were on offer to struggling citizens and businesses.

"We are committed to working with our partners, including the National Investigation Service, to recover these ill-gotten funds and prosecute those responsible.”