EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Reeves orders hit squad to hunt down Covid fraudsters who ripped off taxpayers

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will launch an investigations team armed with new powers to issue huge fines to firms and individuals who defrauded the state during the pandemic

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A new hit squad will hunt down Covid fraudsters who ripped off the taxpayer, Rachel Reeves will say today.

The Chancellor will launch an investigations team armed with new powers to issue huge fines to those who defrauded the state during the pandemic.

The unit will have the power to fine offenders 100% of the value of the money they owe on all Covid schemes, including Eat Out to Help Out and bounce-back loans.

It will also be able to block fraudulent claimants from becoming company directors and put them forward for criminal investigation.

Ms Reeves will blast the Tories for presiding over a carnival of fraud, and to say: "We are still paying the bill for their waste and cronyism… and we want our money back.

"We are getting that money back, and we will put it where it belongs, in our schools, into our police and into our public services."

The new crack team will be run as a pilot, with £15 million in the coffers to ensure that those who exploited the system face the consequences.

It comes after firms and individuals that wrongly claimed Covid cash were told to return the funds by December under a voluntary repayment scheme.

If they fail to cough up, compensation orders will be imposed to claw back the cash.

More than £10billion was lost during the pandemic to fraud, flawed contracts and waste, according to the Treasury.

Over £1.5billion has been recovered so far.

The Chancellor has tasked counter-fraud commissioner Tom Hayhoe to lead efforts to retrieve the cash.

Earlier this year, he discovered that failure to check the viability of PPE for up to two years had cost the taxpayer £762million.

The Tories ordered mountains of protective kit, which was piled up in shipping containers due to lack of space in storage facilities.

But long delays on checking the surplus surgical gowns, masks and visors meant that warranties had expired by the time the faulty PPE was found.