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The United Kingdom on Tuesday announced the launch of a new counter-fraud squad to investigate and prosecute those who defrauded the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Public Authorities Fraud Investigation and Enforcement Service (PAFIES) has commenced tracking suspected fraudsters, using the strongest investigatory tools in a generation.
Investigators can now search suspects’ premises and seize money from fraudsters’ bank accounts if they fail to repay. The window of the operation has been doubled from 6 to 12 years—until 2032.
The latest move followed measures introduced along with the 2024 and 2025 Budgets, which are calculated to have protected £7.5 billion of public money from fraud over two years.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the action was in contrast to the last government, “who left the door open to £10.9 billion of pandemic era fraud and error,” declaring that the culprits “will pay.”
Satvir Kaur, Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, stated that those who chose to exploit a national crisis to line their own pockets now have nowhere left to hide.
The UK government said individuals and entities that did not respond to the Voluntary Repayment Scheme last year will henceforth face the full force of the new powers.
A reporting website created in September 2025 has received over 1,000 reports of suspected Covid fraud. Nearly 2,000 company directors have been banned and 86 criminals prosecuted to date.
