Covid-19 fraudsters steal £25,000 from Barnsley Council

Barnsley Council said it has prevented five similar attempts to defraud the authority

Fraudsters have conned a council out of £25,000 by submitting a fake application for a coronavirus grant.

Barnsley Council said the scam was one of a growing number of attempts by organised criminals to exploit the government's Covid-19 support schemes.

A council report said more than 100 local authorities have reported similar frauds totalling in excess of £8m to the National Anti-Fraud Network.

It said the fraud had been reported to the National Investigation Service.

The council said that between 1 April and 31 August, it gave out grants totalling £45m under schemes such as the Small Business Grant Fund and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.

It said among the applications received the council had prevented five "organised crime" attempts, totalling £110,000, but had "unfortunately been the victim of one successful fraud", the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

It said the fraudulent claims "relate to high-street chains" but did not provide any further details of the nature of the scam.

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Councillor Alan Gardiner, Barnsley Council's cabinet spokesperson for core services, said: "Organised criminals sought to capitalise on a very difficult situation, and as part of this process the council has prevented five attempts to defraud the scheme totalling £110,000. Unfortunately the council has been the victim of one successful fraud of £25,000.

"The funds had already been received from national government so Barnsley Council has not suffered financially from this fraud.

"The details have been forwarded to the National Investigation Service who is leading the investigation into cross-border, multiple authority Covid-19 business grant frauds and it would be inappropriate to comment further until this investigation has been completed."