Public Sector Fraud Authority will be able to use strong civil penalties as alternative to criminal prosecution

An anti-fraud squad will be given the power to raid the properties of Covid fraudsters and recover taxpayers’ money from their bank accounts.

The new measures, which will be introduced to parliament on Wednesday as part of the fraud bill, will give the Cabinet Office’s Public Sector Fraud Authority the means to issue civil penalties to provide an alternative to criminal prosecution, which would be applied retrospectively.