Fraud

• Council employee exploited systems ‘failures’ to steal £1m

  Failures in ‘fundamental controls’ within Dundee City Council’s financial systems allowed a former employee to steal £1m from the authority, auditors conclude.

  

• Cuts to trading standards putting older people at risk of fraud, warns charity

  Cuts to trading standards services are leaving millions of older people at risk of fraud, according to Age UK.

  

• Dismissed council employee pleads guilty to fraud

  A former civil enforcement supervisor at Reading council has been issued a 17-week suspended jail sentence after admitting to fraud.

  

• Voter ID trials are ‘unnecessary and over-bearing’ say campaigners

  The Government has been urged to reconsider its ID voting trials by campaigners due to the ‘tiny’ amount of electoral fraud.

  

• Seven council staff arrested in fraud probe

  Seven members of staff at Cardiff Council have been arrested on suspicion of fraud, the council has confirmed.

  

• The extent of business rates relief fraud

  It is estimated that there could be over £25m worth of fraud being perpetuated by businesses falsely claiming Small Business Rates Relief across England.

  

• Fraudster jailed over £45k council tax scam

  A man who used forged university documentation to scam eight local authorities out of £45,000 in council tax has been jailed for 18 months.

  

• Fraudster jailed for stealing identity to get council job

  A fraudster who used another man’s identity to gain a council job and home as well as thousands in benefits has been jailed, a London council has reported.

  

• Counter-fraud pilot successful

  Councils are encouraged to sign up to a joint counter-fraud initiative with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators after a ‘successful pilot stage’.

  

• Eight out of ten people think elections are well run

  Eight out of ten people believe elections are well run and free from fraud, according to research by the Electoral Commission.