The taxman has been defrauded out of £47million in a major sting that saw 'organised crime' figures pose as up to 100,000 workers to claim bogus rebates.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed today that it had locked down tens of thousands of accounts - some real and some fake - that were used to extract cash for overpayment of PAYE.
Facing MPs HMRC's chief executive JP Marks, who only started in the role a few months ago, said there had been a 'small loss to the taxpayer' as a result, and no loss to customers.
But he also revealed that it happened six months ago in December last year, and several arrests had already been made since by an international investigation.
It was left to his deputy, Angela McDonald, to reveal to the Treasury Committee the scale of what had happened.
