Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said the tax
service, known in Britain as HM Revenue & Customs, would pursue anyone who
had taken money fraudulently.
“We will now pursue anybody who has taken this money
fraudulently,” Clarke told LBC radio. “And I would urge anyone who’s
taken that money and didn’t really need it to make contact with HMRC.”
“Anyone who thinks that they can escape the long arm of
the HMRC is making a great mistake,” he said.
The exact amount of COVID fraud is unclear but various
estimates put it at around 5 billion pounds ($6.7 billion).
($1 = 0.7444 pounds)
