As at 31 March 2024, there remained 1.03 million loans outstanding, to a value of £17.8 billion.41 The Department estimates that total losses to the taxpayer due to fraud in the scheme will be at least £1.9 billion over its lifetime.42 For the purposes of fraud investigation, the Department grouped suspected fraudulent loans into tiers. The largest cases are passed to the National Investigation Service (NATIS), a fraud investigation service provided by Thurrock Council. Other cases were left to commercial lenders to investigate, who the Department regard to be experts in this field.43 39 The Insolvency Service, Factsheet: Bounce Back Loans, March 2022 40 C&AG’s Report, Bounce Back Loan Scheme: an update, Session 2021–22, HC 861, 3 December 2021, pp 5-8 41 DBT, COVID-19 loan guarantee schemes performance data as at 31 March 2024, August 2024 42 DBT ARA 2023 to 2024, p 105 43 C&AG’s Report, Bounce Back Loan Scheme: an update, Session 2021–22, HC 861, 3 December 2021, p 11 15 Recovery of fraud losses