A COURT case involving a suspected fraud involving property grants in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock is expected soon following recent police interviews with suspects.

Concerns about the scheme have previously been raised by councillors, including Cllr Mike Stoddart, who has been at the forefront of a push for a full investigation into circumstances around a £1.46m Commercial Property Grant Scheme (CPGS).

Concerns relate to the Town Heritage Initiative (THI) and Commercial Property Grant Schemes (CPGS) in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock.

The £1.47m Commercial Property Grant Scheme (CPGS) is a part of a larger Pembroke and Pembroke Dock regeneration project and is mainly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Councillors at an extraordinary audit committee meeting in early 2014 carried out a site visit to properties in Pembroke Dock which included Coronation School, 16/19, Commercial Row, and 25, 27 and 29 Dimond Street.

Concerns were later passed on to police, who started an investigation in September 2014.

At the May 4 meeting of the county council’s Audit Committee, CID officer DCI Anthony Griffiths said 12 suspects had been interviewed under caution during the course of the investigation.

Members heard several suspects had been interviewed on three separate occasions.

“Last week we carried out a third suspect interview on one individual; I’m satisfied we ready to refer to the Crown Prosecution Service. I fully expect this to end up in a criminal court,” said DCI Griffiths.

He said more than one suspect had been interviewed on more than three occasions, but stressed none of them were county council employees.

“September 2014 to now is a considerable amount of time, we have dedicated considerable resources to it; we wanted to make sure we do it step-by-step and do it properly. Yes, it has taken some time but investigations like this often do.

“We have to make sure we do everything possible for a fair trial in the criminal court, I really can’t go into details of the evidence.”

He said no arrests had been made during the investigations due to the police taking a softly-softly approach.

“We use the least amount of force to obtain our evidence; taking people’s liberty away is too much force. I’m satisfied we have taken any means needed to take the investigation forward.”

Councillor Jacob Williams pressed for a timescale, with DCI Griffiths replying: “We’d expect it to be quite quickly; the last suspect interview occurred last week, we’re awaiting the relevant papers being produced in a relevant format.”