Primarily, fraud investigations into the Covid-19 loans and grant schemes are handled by the National Crime Agency (NCA) or HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The National Investigation Service (NATIS) has also played a role with investigations into the abuse of Local Government grants.
The UK Government has established a Taxpayer Protection Taskforce for investigations into Covid-related fraud. The Taskforce comprises of investigators from HMRC and the NCA, to investigate and pursue those who have allegedly abused the schemes.
Where an agency suspects that a Government scheme has been abused or used fraudulently, it is able to take criminal or civil action against the suspected wrongdoer and obtain an Account Freezing Order to freeze all relevant bank accounts.