§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of cases of all forms of fraud committed by employees of his(a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies, for each year from 1991–92 to 1994–95; and for each of these years, what was the total monetary sum (i) misappropriated in such frauds and (ii) subsequently recovered. [39139]
§ Mr. Arbuthnot[holding answer 24 October 1995]: The number of reported non-procurement frauds and thefts committed by Ministry of Defence employees, including defence agencies, during each of the years 1991–92 to 1994–95 is as follows:
- 1991–92: 45 cases
- 1992–93: 54 cases
- 1993–94: 108 cases
- 1994–95: 207 cases
There were no reported frauds and thefts committed by staff working in non-departmental public bodies during the period in question.
The estimated sums misappropriated and the sums recovered in each of the years 1991–92 to 1994–95 are as follows:
Misappropriated £ Recovered £ 1991–92 63,000 22,492 1992–93 205,000 37,816 1993–94 571,000 74,725 1994–95 1,095,584 128,722 With regard to procurement fraud, including corruption and collusion, the numbers of cases recorded over the years in question were as follows:
- 1991–92: 18 cases
- 1992–93: 27 cases
- 1993–94: 7 cases
- 1994–95: 10 cases
Only three of these involved the conviction of Ministry of Defence employees for corruption and collusion.
The estimated amounts misappropriated against procurement fraud for the years in question were as follows:
- 1991–92: £150,000 fraud by a subcontractor—no eventual loss to MOD.
- 1992–93: £20,000 advance payment fraud involving no ultimate loss to MOD.
91 - 1993–94: £1,511,500 mainly corruption. Recovery action in hand.
- 1994–95: Actual values of loss to MOD to be identified when cases come to fruition.