Kemi Badenoch's top team ran departments that gave £20k a minute to fraudsters

New investigation reveals that since 2019, implicit £44 cardinal of payer wealth was mislaid to fraud successful departments nether the Tories - often portion they were tally by members of Ms Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet

Departments which person been tally by members of Kemi Badenoch's apical squad handed £20,000 of taxpayers' wealth to fraudsters each infinitesimal of past parliament.

New investigation reveals that since 2019, implicit £44 cardinal of payer wealth was mislaid to fraud successful departments nether the Tories - often portion they were tally by members of Ms Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet.

Some £35 cardinal mislaid to fraud and mistake successful benefits payments astatine the Department for Work and Pensions, antecedently overseen by Badenoch's prime for Shadow Chancellor, Mel Stride, from 2019 to 2024.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately was a curate successful the Department of Health and Social Care erstwhile it gave distant millions to fraudsters successful PPE procurement. The astir caller statistic amusement that £324 cardinal was handed to fraudsters.

Ms Badenoch and Shadow Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith were Treasury ministers erstwhile the section oversaw billions of pounds of fraud during the Covid-19 pandemic and successful authorities probe and improvement (R&D) taxation recognition schemes.

Analysis shows implicit £3 cardinal was handed to fraudsters via R&D taxation recognition schemes and £5 cardinal done Covid-19 fiscal enactment schemes, including Eat Out to Help Out.

Ms Badenoch herself admitted the Treasury nether Rishi Sunak had "dismissed" concerns implicit fraud.

"We request to enactment radical who bash the close happening and not fto those who don't disconnected the hook," she said during a enactment hustings.

"When we some worked successful the Treasury myself and different ministers raised the contented of covid indebtedness fraud. You [Rishi Sunak] dismissed america and it has outgo the taxpayers £17 billion. Why didn't you instrumentality america seriously?"

Some £42 cardinal was mislaid to fraud successful the Future Fund, tally by the Department of Business and Trade - successful which which some Ms Badenoch and Shadow Housing Minister Kevin Hollinrake person served arsenic ministers.

And £770.8m was mislaid successful Covid indebtedness guarantees betwixt 2020 and 2023.

A spokesperson for Ms Badenoch declined to comment.