Suitcases of Covid cash smuggled out of UK: £15BILLION losses to ‘fraud and error’ is laid bare with millions in bounce-back loans sent abroad, £50K GAMBLED by one claimant and £35K spent by another on a new garden… and it’s just ‘the tip of iceberg’

Other cases of abuse include a pub landlord who pocketed £29,000 in fake ‘consultancy fees’, a soft drinks company owner who inflated his turnover by 100 times to get the maximum loan, and a restaurant boss who was given a loan despite having been evicted from his premises for failing to pay rent.

Some of the swindlers have shared photos of themselves posing with luxury cars, while others used the taxpayer money for poker games, home improvements and luxury watches.

As much as £17billion out of the £47billion officials paid out in Bounce Back loans will never be paid back, according to recent estimates, and of that about £4.9billion is thought to have been lost to fraud.

Overall, ‘fraud and error’ across all the government’s Covid programmes, including the furlough scheme, is expected to have cost the taxpayer £15.7billion. However, a fraud expert warned the figure is ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ as more cases emerge.