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Homes raided in tax credit swoops Homes raided in tax credit swoops
(30 minutes later)
Police and customs officers have conducted raids on people suspected of tax credit fraud. Police and customs officers have conducted dawn raids on people suspected of tax credit fraud.
Ten homes in Paisley and Renfrewshire were searched and 13 people questioned in what police described as the biggest operation of its kind in Scotland.Ten homes in Paisley and Renfrewshire were searched and 13 people questioned in what police described as the biggest operation of its kind in Scotland.
Wednesday's operation has identified a fraud of more than £500,000, Strathclyde Police said. Strathclyde Police said the investigation has identified fraud of more than £500,000.
HM Revenue and Customs said organised criminals were attacking the system to try to steal huge amounts of money. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said organised criminals were attacking the system in a bid to steal huge sums.
Revenue and Customs said that if the fraud had gone undetected it would probably have eventually run into millions of pounds. Fifty Customs investigators were joined by 30 police officers during swoops on Wednesday morning.
Nine women and four men volunteered to help the inquiry.
A HMRC spokesman told the BBC Scotland news website that seven of the properties searched were in Johnstone and three in Paisley.
Fraudulent tax credit claims are not victimless crimes Eric YoungsonHM Revenue and Customs
He said no other information could be released as interviews were continuing.
Eric Youngson, senior officer in HMRC criminal investigations, said: "I am grateful for the assistance of Strathclyde Police in this operation, which already identified a fraud in excess of £500,000.
"If this fraud had gone undetected then it was likely to have run into millions of pounds stolen from the public purse.
"Fraudulent tax credit claims are not victimless crimes."
The tax credit system was designed to help families on low incomes by supplementing their pay.
The payments were introduced to try to integrate welfare benefits into the tax system.
Bogus claims
Nine out of 10 families with children in the UK are eligible for tax credit payments.
Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit have been payable since April 2003, replacing Working Families Tax Credits.
Working Tax Credit is paid to working families with children to help them meet costs like childcare but some fraudsters have filed bogus claims for non-existent offspring.
In 2004-2005, 17,164 claims were stopped before tax credit payments were made because fraud or error was suspected, resulting in 153 prosecutions.
The losses identified to date amount to about £16m but MPs heard recently that HMRC was still at an early stage of putting a figure on the actual extent of this type of fraud.