Fraud Intelligence

There will always be those who, in Sir Walter Scott's words, "practise to deceive" but as times change, do their methods? Does the advent of generative AI mark a clear break with the past, for good or ill, in the realm of fraud, and what does it mean for prevention and investigation? John Gill, President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), draws on his three decades in the global professional body to look ahead with Keith Nuthall.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to keep up his decade-old campaign against corruption, in a 6 January address to China's main body so tasked - the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

The European Commission is pushing for an increase in funding for its Union Anti-Fraud Programme (UAFP), which is spending €181 million between 2021-2027 on EU anti-fraud policies.

More than 12 months have passed since landmark legislation in the United Kingdom lowered the threshold for firms to be held criminally accountable for the commission of specified economic offences. Ben Cooper, Jason Cropper and Meghan Millward of TLT assess the various impacts that companies are experiencing on the ground and lessons learned so far.

In November last year, the UK published guidance for large organisations on the imminent offence of failure to prevent fraud created by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Drawing on the guidance, Rachael Gregory of Grosvenor Law outlines the extensive sweep of activities and jurisdiction that will be captured.

Subsequent to a dispute involving an alleged fraud on a Ukrainian bank, the English High Court has considered an application to release collateral use restrictions where the bank was also required to make a disclosure under a foreign court order. Given that parties often obtain documents during English proceedings that they would like to use for other purposes, James Clark and Joanna Leslie of Quillon Law discuss some of the "special circumstances" where they may be discharged from the obligations of a collateral use undertaking.

The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has obtained its first unexplained wealth order (UWO), enabling it to secure a freeze on a UK£1.5 million (US$1.84 million) property owned by the ex-wife of jailed fraudster, Timothy Schools, a solicitor.