G4S wins another government tagging contract for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) despite £109m fraud scandal and ongoing probe

G4S, the security services company which appears unable to do any wrong, has won a new tagging contract despite a fraud scandal which saw it repay almost £109m to the government.

Read more: G4S agrees to tagging payout as profits slide

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that G4S has again been selected to supply tagging equipment to keep tabs on offenders, although declined to clarify the details.

A spokesperson said the values and contents of the contracts would be released “in due course”.

“G4S has been selected through an open and competitive tender process to supply tagging equipment as part of a suite of contracts required to provide electronic monitoring services,” the spokesperson said.

The Ministry of Justice added that it was committed to getting the best value for money for taxpayers, and that G4S has been subject to “stringent requirements” throughout the tendering process including both quality thresholds and financial standing.

But G4S has not exactly proven its merits in previous contracts it has run for the Ministry of Justice.

In 2013, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a criminal investigation into the FTSE 100-listed business and its fellow contractor Serco, which led to the pair being stripped of their tagging contracts.

Read more: G4S and Serco shares plunge on fraud claims

They were accused of overcharging the government by billing for “phantom” offenders, including some who were still in prison or had died.

G4S agreed to pay £108.9m plus tax to the UK government, after its first offer of £24m was refused and the scale of the scandal was revealed to be much greater than initially estimated.

The SFO’s probe is still underway, although G4S’s ban on bidding for contracts has evidently been lifted.