Thousands in fraudulent Covid support grants stopped in Tendring
But, grants totalling £56m have helped more than 2,000 businesses in the district
Covid support grant payments totalling more than £800,000 have been prevented from going to firms in Tendring whose claims were not eligible or even fraudulent.
Examples include a company creating a sham lease for business premises which they did not occupy, landlords claiming instead of their tenants, and creating false leases for friends and family.
Tendring District Council also collected back almost £100,000 in payments which were incorrectly claimed.
But, at the same time, almost 2,300 companies in the district have been supported by the various government schemes.
More than £56million has been handed out.
Carlo Guglielmi, Tendring District Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Resources, said:
"We know that this funding has been a lifeline for businesses during the pandemic, and it is fantastic to see just how much has gone to help Tendring-based firms since March 2020.
"We have administered nine government schemes which have all supported businesses both when they were forced to close, and once they re-opened to get back on their feet – the net effect being to help the local economy and protect jobs for our residents.
"TDC’s response to Covid-19 has been wide-ranging, and the business support grants have been a huge part of that – not only in terms of the amounts of money involved, but the logistics of getting systems set up to administer payments from a team which usually collects them.
"We worked as quickly as we could to get cash into the accounts of legitimate businesses who needed it.
"At times firms did have to wait while the proper checks were carried out, and I hope that they can understand just how important those checks were."
Cllr Guglielmi added:
"Alongside our work to support the local economy, we have a duty to protect the public purse and look after taxpayers’ money.
"This applies both in terms of our day-to-day operations, and also through the work of our anti-fraud team, and in this case both have been outstanding – often applying local knowledge."