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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Sophie Smith

Half of UK company directors struck off linked to alleged Covid loan fraud

The government spent £46.6bn on its bounce back loan scheme, launched by then chancellor Rishi Sunak in May 2020
The government spent £46.6bn on its bounce back loan scheme, launched by then chancellor Rishi Sunak in May 2020. Photograph: HM Government

More than half of all company directors struck off in Britain in the past 15 months were involved in alleged fraud or abuse of Covid-19 financial support schemes, official figures have revealed.

There were 1,200 directors disqualified between 1 April last year and 30 June this year, with 611 of the cases involving abuse of Covid-19 schemes, mainly in relation to taxpayer-backed bounce-back loans. About £1.1bn of loans have already been flagged as suspected fraud or error.

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