LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Serco said it had agreed to pay a £19.2m fine and £3.7m in costs after overcharging the UK government on an electronic tagging contract.
The fine was reduced by 50% after Serco co-operated with the Serious Fraud Office's investigation, which started in 2013. No criminal charges would be brought, the company added in a statement.

Serco's UK subsidiary Serco Geografix admitted three offences of fraud and two of false accounting.

The then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling asked the SFO to look into the allegations after an external audit revealed Serco had billed to track criminals who had moved abroad, were back in prison, had their tags removed and even some who had died.

Grayling told MPs that in some cases the bills had continued to be presented years after active monitoring had stopped.

Compensation to the Ministry of Justice has already been paid by Serco as part of a £70m settlement in 2013. The company was stripped of its responsibility for tagging criminals in the UK later that year.

Serco chief executive Rupert Soames said the company was "mortified, embarrassed and angry" over the scandal. "Serco apologised unreservedly at the time, and we do so again," he said.

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