Senior Victorian public servants hid loss of up to $285m from Covid grants given to ineligible businesses

Key points

• Senior officials in a Victorian government department allegedly concealed losses from flawed Covid-19 business support payments, according to an integrity investigation. The payments went to about 9,000 businesses that were not eligible, with an estimated $257 million spent.
• The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission says the losses, suspected to reach $285 million, were withheld from superiors and ministers over an extended period. The watchdog found a brief to then-minister Ben Carroll contained false and misleading information.
• It made no adverse findings against Carroll, now premier.