The BBC revealed how the criminal gang set up bogus companies to claim the loan.
Analysis of government loan schemes to combat small businesses suggests that criminals could steal more than 1.9bn from taxpayers.
The National It Office also says the UK’s five largest banks will make about £ 1bn between them from the scheme.
Under the bounce back scheme, small businesses can borrow up to £ 50,000.
The government said it has tried to reduce the fraud through a background check on the lender.
Bounceback loans are government-backed loans of up to government 50,000, and were introduced to ease the heavy pressure on small businesses after the economy went into coronavirus lockdown.
They don’t have to pay for six years, and they are interest free for the first 12 months.
B The 38 38 billion loan scheme is an extension of previous offers in which some businesses complained that they could not access access because lending criteria were too strict.
The Public Accounts Committee said it was the government’s largest and most risky business support scheme.
He says he will not evaluate the value for money of the plan, as loan repayments will not start until May next year.
The NAO analysis states that losses from this scheme reach “significantly above” the general estimate for public sector fraud. %% to %% fraud.
This means that more than 1.9bn of the criminals were lost, put on the hook when taxpayers failed to pay back the money, it is said.
‘Taxpayer Expenses’
Mag Hillier, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said the loan was an important life for many businesses.
But he added that “the government estimates that as much as 60% of loans could go bad – this will turn a blind eye to public money.”
“The bounce back loan scheme helped small businesses get money quickly, and will prevent some from going under it.
“But the hasty launch of this scheme means that the criminals may have contributed billions of pounds at the expense of the taxpayers.
“Unfortunately, many companies will not be able to repay their loans and banks will hardly wash their hands of it.
Analysis: Angus Crawford, BBC News correspondent
Today’s report confirms what many people suspected.
In May, the government needed to get small businesses to get money as quickly as possible, before thousands of busts were made.
But to do that, they had to compromise on credit and fraud investigations. This opened the door to a whole range of problems – including fraud by organized criminal gangs.
We’ve found evidence that more than 100 bogus companies have faked to create a fraudulent app – a maximum of 50,000 each time.
They have used the theft of innocent victims, personal details to set up fake companies – victims who know nothing about this until letters demanding summer payments begin to reach them through the coming summer.
The taxpayer is in the same situation – waiting to finally find out how much the plan will cost us. The warning from the National IT Office Fees is clear – it is likely to be “very high”.
Sue and Dave Burden, from the south of England, were surprised to learn that Suni’s identity had been stolen in order to set up the company and claim a bounce back loan.
“I’m gone with tears of anger,” he told the BBC. “Now I’m scared to do anything.”
The report warns that the pace at which the scheme has been launched increases the risk of fraud. It took businesses a month to make sure they couldn’t get more than one loan.
The government was warned in May that its main loan scheme to help small companies affected by Kovid was “at high risk of fraud” from “organized crime”, the BBC reported last week.
The government-owned British Business Bank (BBB), which oversees the bounce back loan scheme, has twice raised concerns.
A BBC report has revealed that the criminals were setting up fake companies to get loans of thousands of pounds.
The BBB expects to pay street 1.07bn in interest payments, providing cash to street lenders.
Most of this will go to the UK’s five largest banks, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander, which have raised. 31.3bn.
According to the latest Treasury figures, with 1.26 million approvals, 1.55 million applications for loans have been made.
A government spokesman said: “We aim to support those who need it as soon as possible and will not apologize for it.”
“We are focused on reducing fraud – lenders have implemented various protections, including anti-money laundering and customer checks, as well as transaction monitoring controls.
“Any fraudulent petitions can be prosecuted for which include fine imprisonment or fine or both.”
