4 hours ago

Zoe Conway Employment correspondent

BBC

Thousands of homes, like this one in Swansea, were fitted with insulation that caused mould and damp

Four people have been arrested during a dawn raid on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud following an investigation into the government's botched home insulation scheme .

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, 100 investigators entered homes and offices across three counties and removed computers, hard drives and crypto assets.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is examining what it said is a "sophisticated conspiracy" to fraudulently claim £44m in public money through the scheme.

The BBC joined a team from the SFO as they put on stab vests and raided a company office at a business park in Cannock.

Lead investigator Ross Corrigan said the SFO suspected this was a ''sophisticated and systemic fraud within the government's Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) scheme which was designed to help people in fuel poverty".

"And yet here we have suspected…