SFO outgunned by UK firms that spend millions more on lawyers to ‘buy impunity’ November 15, 2021 Companies under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office have spent up to ten times more than the fraudbusters on legal and investigation fees, causing major corruption cases to crash and burn, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found. The UK’s only complex fraud agency’s fight against economic crime is undermined by its lack of funding, [...]
Travel insurance cheat who tried to eat evidence among £1.1bn UK fraud cases October 6, 2021 A travel insurance cheat who tried to eat the evidence and an “accident-prone” gardener who was caught out weightlifting were among the more unusual frauds uncovered, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said this morning. The industry body said the average general insurance fraud detected last year was for £12,000, marking a £600 increase compared [...]
Financial crime and fraud go through the roof during pandemic August 19, 2021 Lockdowns and restrictions in movement in England and Wales saw a surge in online shopping which led to “substantial increases” in computer crimes, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As a result, financial crime, fraud and hacking soared during the pandemic as criminals “took advantage of behavioural changes”, according to new figures. Figures [...]
Serco tagging trial falls through after SFO declines to offer evidence April 26, 2021 Two former Serco executives have been cleared of defrauding the Ministry of Justice after the SFO declined to offer evidence. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) brought claims against Nicholas Woods and Simon Marshall, who were accused of “defrauding the taxpayer” by concealing £12m in profits related to an electronic tagging contract for offenders. Today a [...]
London: Cover-up culture led to hundreds of Lambeth children being abused for decades July 28, 2021 Council staff “put vulnerable children in the path” of sex offenders, who infiltrated children’s homes and foster care, with “devastating, life-long consequences for their victims”, a damning report into decades of abuse has found. Employees in the south London borough of Lambeth “treated children in care as if they were worthless” and appeared to demonstrate [...]
EU considers offering asylum to Russian soldiers if they desert Ukraine amid claims Kremlin is using hunger as a weapon April 6, 2022 European Council president Charles Michel said EU countries should think about ways to offer asylum to Russian soldiers willing to desert Ukraine battlefields. During an address to the the European Parliament, Michel expressed his “outrage at crimes against humanity, against innocent civilians in Bucha and in many other cities”, and called on Russian soldiers to [...]
BREAKING – Kenya in shock as election descends into chaos: Electoral committee falls apart and fighting erupts August 15, 2022 Kenya’s electoral committee has fallen apart in a surprise development that is sending shockwaves through Kenya. Four committee members have “distanced” themselves from the IEBC in an unprecedented historic move. The four officials walked out minutes before the electoral body was supposed to announce formal election results this afternoon. In dramatic scenes in Nairobi, fighting [...]
Anxious East Africa holds its breath: Still no election winner while fraud claims start to fly August 12, 2022 NAIROBI – East Africa is holding its breath this Friday morning as Tuesday’s cliffhanger elections in regional powerhouse Kenya still has not produced a clear presidential winner. While vote counting in the country is reaching its final stages, in an extremely close race between the two main candidates, confusion is growing as a range of [...]
DAY 1: Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch fights extradition to the US February 9, 2021 British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch began earlier today his fight against his extradition, slamming the US for “overreaching” and saying the UK authorities could prosecute the alleged fraud. Alex Bailin QC, for Lynch, said the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is “not the global marshall of the corporate world”, as he launched the former Autonomy [...]
Airbus agrees to pay record €991m UK fine in €3.6bn global bribery settlement January 31, 2020 A London court today approved a record €991m (£833m) fine for Airbus in exchange for suspending the prosecution of alleged bribery. The deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) was part of a €3.6bn global deal agreed with prosecutors in the UK, US and France. Airbus has agreed to pay France €2.08bn and the US €525m to bring [...]