UK reduced card fraud losses by £49m, the highest in Europe for third year running September 6, 2022 The UK reduced card fraud losses by £49m last year, meaning for the third year in a row it was had the highest in Europe. Only Britain, Hungry Sweden and Denmark improved their card fraud losses in the last 12 months, while Portugal and the Netherlands with the biggest offenders, exceeding 15 per cent losses. [...]
Serious Fraud Office to call for overhaul of disclosure regime following trial issues September 4, 2022 THE UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is pushing for the UK’s current disclosure framework to be reformed and brought into the 21st century, CityAM has learned. The head of the fraud agency, Lisa Osofsky, is expected to use a speech in Cambridge tomorrow to call for an overhaul of the current disclosure regime, which [...]
City Exclusive – SFO’s ‘unique skillset’ will be needed to tackle UK’s worsening fraud epidemic, Lisa Osofsky says September 2, 2022 The director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said the agency’s skillset will be needed to combat the mounting levels of increasingly complex and high-value frauds facing the UK’s court system. The letter comes in response to reports in this paper showing the number of fraud cases reaching the UK Crown Courts dropped [...]
Fraud prosecutions slowed by record Crown Court wait times August 30, 2022 THE UK’s Crown Court backlog is stalling efforts to tackle the UK’s worsening fraud epidemic, according to new research from KPMG. The value of frauds worth more than £100,000 reaching the UK’s Crown Courts increased 288 per cent, from £137.4m in the first half of 2021 to £532.6m in H1 2022, as a series [...]
Axiom founder sentenced to 14 years in prison over £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud August 11, 2022 The founder of a Cayman Islands headquartered fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been jailed for 14 years for using millions in investors cash to finance his own extravagant spending habits. Axiom Legal Financing Fund founder Timothy Schools was today sentenced to 14 years in prison at a hearing at Southwark Crown [...]
Cayman Islands fund manager convicted over role in £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud August 10, 2022 The founder of a Cayman Islands investment fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been convicted of using a complex network of overseas trust to defraud investors of millions. Timothy Schools, investment manager at the Cayman Islands headquartered Axiom Legal Financing Fund, used investors cash to fund his luxury lifestyle, that saw [...]
Staff cuts in crime agencies would ‘completely undermine’ UK’s fight against oligarchs, campaigners warn July 26, 2022 Campaigners have called on the UK government to rule out plans to slash headcounts in the enforcement agencies tasked with fighting economic crime, after warning any cuts would “completely undermine” Britain’s bid to crack down on the kleptocrats, criminals, and oligarchs that seek to launder dirty money in the UK. UK government plans to cut [...]
Pandemic leads to major spike in whistleblowers turning to SFO to report alleged fraud March 14, 2022 The pandemic has led to a near 20 per cent rise in whistleblower reports about alleged fraud. Workers may have falsified accounts to cover up theft or inflated sales figures in a bid to achieve bonuses during the pandemic, a new report by consultancy firm Accuracy has found. There was a 17 per cent rise [...]
SFO arrests flight-risk suspect of car-leasing investigation October 20, 2021 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has arrested a suspect that was being investigated as part of an ongoing enquiry into the Raedex Consortium, which includes companies such as Buy2Let Cars and Paygo Cars. Considered a flight-risk, the suspect was apprehended with the help of the Surrey Police and is being questioned by SFO officers. Today’s [...]