A former junior accountant has been jailed after a £180,000 Covid claim fraud.

Daniel Jee was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court to three years and four months behind bars.

He submitted 49 false Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme claims over an 18-month period, starting in March 2020.

The 32-year-old targeted clients of the Exeter-based accountancy firm he worked at.

Jee used their details so he could submit false claims.

He then directed the stolen cash into his own bank accounts.

Jee used the details of 10 business along with two elderly clients to submit claims which totalled £230,369.

Of that amount, £179,218 was paid to himself.

The HMRC launched an investigation after questioning some of the claims Jee made

The remainder was withheld by HM Revenue and Customs.

Jee admitted 12 counts of Fraud by False Representation before being sentenced to his jail term.

The HMRC questioned some of the claims and the firm he worked before launching an internal investigation.

It led to Jee being caught.

An HMRC spokesman said "Jee should have known (as an accountant) better than to try and cheat the system".

"He stole from the taxpayer at the height of a national crisis," the spokesman added.

"Accountants hold a position of enormous trust and this sentence should serve as a warning to the minority of dishonest professionals who wrongly believe they can use their knowledge to commit or facilitate tax crime."