§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to(a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years. [27986]
§ Dr. MoonieThe reported estimated cost to the Ministry of Defence, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies of fraud and theft in each of last complete financial years is as follows:
£ MOD Agencies NDPBs 1997–98 168,393 421,263 0 1998–99 183,107 527,897 0 1999–2000 1,976,669 60,737 0 2000–01 581,238 300,112 0 No abatement is made for subsequent recoveries. The figures relate to a combination of suspected and proven frauds and thefts with estimated values refined from time to time as investigations, sometime lasting a year or more, reach a conclusion. A significant element of estimated cost or value can relate to 'at risk' estimates applied to suspected procurement fraud cases, the majority of which are usually resolved as 'no crime' or have a proven value lower than original estimates.