Police in England are investigating whether an alleged victim of prolific sex offender Jimmy Savile has made a fraudulent compensation claim.
Assistant chief constable Geoff Dodd from West Yorkshire Police said officers are working to establish “if an offence has been committed”.
The Mail on Sunday reported that the investigation centres around Savile’s great-niece, Caroline Robinson, 51, who has previously spoken out about two sex assaults she suffered as a teenager at the hands of the television presenter.
Mr Dodd said: “We have been made aware of an alleged victim of Jimmy Savile making a claim for compensation.
“Officers’ first responsibility is to establish whether an offence has been committed. They are working with this individual to establish if that is the case.
“With all Savile related inquiries we are continuing to work with the Metropolitan Police who are leading Operation Yewtree, the investigation into historic sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.”
Ms Robinson has previously appeared on ITV’s This Morning to talk about the assaults by her great uncle when she was 12 and 15.
More than 140 people have come forward to say they were a victim of the DJ, who died in October 2011 aged 84.
A compensation scheme was approved by the High Court in February following an agreement between NatWest, the executor of Savile’s estate, lawyers representing Savile’s alleged victims, the NHS and the BBC.
Payments are to be capped at £60,000 and taken from the proceeds of Savile’s estate estimated to be worth £3.3 million.
At least 500 victims as young as two were abused by the shamed television presenter during his reign as one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders.
A study by the NSPCC, commissioned for BBC Panorama, earlier this year uncovered confidential documents examining the extent of Savile’s offending and his unprecedented access to Broadmoor hospital, where some of his abuse took place.
An inquiry by the NHS into the scale of his abuse in hospitals up and down the country and a separate inquiry by the BBC have both been delayed.