G4S, Serco face probe over tagging contracts

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed launching a criminal investigation into tagging contracts by security companies G4S and Serco.

The probe comes after an initial probe showed that the two firms had charged in cases when individuals were back in prison, had their tags removed, left the country or were never tagged in the first place.

They had even charged in cases where the tagged person had died.

The audit revealed that the overcharging began at least as far back as the start of the current electronic monitoring contracts in 2005 – but could have dated as far back as the start of the previous contracts in 1999.

“The director of the Serious Fraud Office has opened a criminal investigation into G4S and Serco electronic monitoring contracts,” SFO said in response to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, who unveiled the fraud scandal on top of two firms earlier in July.

There are reports that the British government spent more than £394 million on contracts with G4S last year.

Moreover, around one quarter of Serco’s £4.9 billion annual revenues come from deals with the UK government.

Results of the SFO investigation are expected by the end of November.

The probe could ultimately lead to fines or prosecution.