Lisa Osofsky to step down as SFO director in August 2023 SFO Lisa Osofsky is set to leave her position as director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in August 2023 after completing a five-year stint at the fraud investigation agency. Osofsky told staff she will serve her full tenure before leaving the agency, according to an internal message sent out by the SFO chief. In [...]
City Exclusive – SFO’s ‘unique skillset’ will be needed to tackle UK’s worsening fraud epidemic, Lisa Osofsky says Exclusive 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 [...]
Former Patisserie Valerie chief financial officer among four charged with fraud Financial Crime The former chief financial officer of the company behind bakery Patisserie Valerie has been charged with fraud alongside three others, including his wife.
UK fraud agency goes on hiring spree to top up numbers after departures December 4, 2023 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said that hiring new staff was its “top priority” as it looks to turnaround under new boss Nick Ephgrave.
New SFO director has ‘a massive mountain to climb’ as the anti-fraud agency looks to rebuild July 26, 2023 The new director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) faces a herculean task in rebuilding the agency’s reputation after a number of failures over the last few years, top City lawyers have warned. Earlier this month Nick Ephgrave, the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, was appointed as the next director of the agency [...]
Former London Capital & Finance CEO sentenced after splashing hidden funds on pricey Italian getaway and hot tub May 17, 2023 The former CEO of now collapsed London Capital & Finance was handed a suspended sentence today after he was found to have breached an asset freezing order, splashing hidden funds on a holiday, hotel stay and a hot tub. The Serious Fraud Office froze Michael Thomson’s assets as part of its ongoing investigation into suspected [...]
Serious Fraud Office ‘should be replaced with a new body’, say IEA August 23, 2024 The UK anti-fraud agency should be replaced with a new body dedicated to combating economic crime, says a new paper by think tank IEA
Serious Fraud Office shuts Rio Tinto and ENRC corruption probes August 24, 2023 The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has closed its long-running corruption investigations into Rio Tinto and Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), the agency said today.
Serious Fraud Office: Osofsky backs government’s plan for new ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence January 25, 2023 The director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has backed plans for a new ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence, after government ministers today confirmed the offence would make its way on the statute books. SFO chief Lisa Osofsky said government plans to introduce a failure to prevent offence for fraud has the “potential to [...]
Letters: Never-ending tide of fraud September 2, 2022 [RE: Fraud crackdown stalled by record court wait times] I read with interest – but not surprise – that the value of fraud cases heard in courts has significantly risen in 2022, particularly in high-value fraud cases. I would add two points to your commentary. Behind the rising trial numbers lie human stories, with victims [...]