Capita in new training fraud probe

Cap Gemini is to investigate the scandal surrounding the Independent Learning Accounts (ILAs) scheme - the government-backed IT training initiative which was disbanded late last year among allegations of fraud.

The scheme offered companies £200 grants for training potential IT workers, but was shut down when it emerged that fraudsters were setting up fake accounts to get the grant but not providing any actual training.

To add to the government's embarrassment, it emerged last week that the IT systems - some of which were outsourced to Capita - were insecure

Part of the problem is the ILA website, which was based on easily guessable sequential account numbers. This allowed crooks to create and access thousands of fictional student accounts, according to the Financial Times.

Capita insists that the account numbers were not part of its security system.

Cap Gemini will investigate all the claims and look at the project's specifications to see if they were adequate.

Thirty people have already been arrested and 270 of 8,500 training organisations are under investigation.