Lloyds Banking Group has said it is close to offering compensation to 30 customers caught up in a criminal conspiracy involving former bankers at its HBOS subsidiary. The bank has already missed its own deadline of 30 June for paying redress to all victims. So far, only five have accepted compensation offers. MPs and victims have criticised the compensation scheme. The fraud saw small businesses pressed into hiring "turnaround consultants". Two corrupt HBOS bankers pressured the customers into using consultants Quayside Corporate Services, led by David Mills. He and his accomplices bribed the bankers with cash, gifts and prostitutes, then used their relationship with the bank to bully the business owners into handing over exorbitant fees and, eventually, control of their companies. The business customers, in the words of a judge, were left "cheated, defeated and penniless".

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