G4S facing serious fraud office investigation over tagging charges

The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has told parliament that the Serious Fraud Office is to investigate whether G4S fraudulently overcharged the Ministry of Justice for the electronic tagging of those convicted of offences. Serco has already agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

We reckon it's odds on that civil servants, not the tagging companies, will ultimately be blamed for not monitoring the contracts well enough.

Update, November 19, 2013: Richard Garside assesses the National Audit Office report on the G4S and Serco contracts here.