- Home/Publications/Fraud Intelligence
‘Odds-on’ to catch race fixers
In 2003 the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA), a division of The Jockey Club, found itself in a glare of negative publicity when a BBC Panorama investigation made very public allegations of race fixing. Three years on, following investment in a new ‘police-style’ intelligence unit and an intelligence system from Memex, the HRA is beginning to turn the tables on the race fixers and changing perceptions about the horseracing industry.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Carousel fraud – a UK£1.9 billion problem
“Carousel fraud isn’t a victimless crime or a clever accounting trick, it is criminal theft of tax revenues needed to fund our country’s public services,” Carole Upshall, HMRC Detection Senior Manager. This year has seen a fundamental review by the government of how it can begin to tackle the very great losses attributed to the carousel fraud, otherwise known as a Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) VAT fraud. Neil Blundell
of Russell Jones & Walker studies the latest developments.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
NEDs, heed the whistle
Non-executive directors must do more when faced with allegations of whistleblowing otherwise they could face disqualification, writes Simon Bevan
of BDO Stoy Hayward
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Penalising fraud in the 21st century
The effective penalisation of fraud in the UK has traditionally required parallel proceedings – in the criminal courts and in the civil courts. The recommendations of the Fraud Review could revolutionize this approach by the formation of a Financial Court, which would transcend the historic demarcation between the civil and criminal courts’ jurisdiction. Tony Lewis
of Peters and Peters reviews existing arrangements and finds in favour of the new proposal.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Security Matters: the lone-working fraud investigator
The National Health service has been doing more and more in recent years to protect its staff against violence and abuse. In particular, lone workers have been the subject of a concerned effort to develop policy, procedures and hardware to reduce offences against them. However, writes Ann De Vere
of the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service, one group of lone workers is not often thought of in the context of people who need protection – fraud investigators.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
A framework of reference
On 29 September the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) published a set of key essential actions that organisations should take to protect themselves from the damaging consequences of fraud and corruption. This article reviews a free framework that has been welcomed by both public and private sector practitioners.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Safe Passage
Edward Wilding is co-founder and co-director of Data Genetics International (DGI, www.dgiforensic.com). His book, “Information Risk and Security: Preventing and investigating workplace computer crime” is published by Gower (www.gowerpub.com), priced UK£75.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Plea bargaining – the way forward?
The Government Fraud Review, published in July, proposes that a plea bargaining framework should be devised as a method to avoid the costs and time of full scale trials. In the USA, it notes, some 95% of all criminal cases are settled by some form of plea bargaining. The Review estimates that the savings could amount to UK£50 million a year, although it is not clear whether this recognises that there may well be considerably more prosecutions if other recommendations about the reporting and investigation of fraud are also implemented. Ian Wilson
of Russell Jones & Walker considers the proposal.
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Nigerian politicians conned into paying bribes to clear their names
Nigerian politicians seeking the easy way to secure a compulsory certificate of honesty required to stand for election have been duped by conmen posing as government officials. Bribes of thousands of US dollars were paid to fraudsters impersonating..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
UN adopts accrual accounting
A United Nations unit is coordinating the introduction of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) accrual systems across all agencies of the global body, helping auditors crack down on fraud. The UN Task Force on Accounting..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Euro currency anti-counterfeiting programme extended
The European Parliament has approved extending the European Union’s (EU) ‘Pericles’ euro currency anti-counterfeiting programme, which will now continue to spend €1 million annually until 2013. MEPs also agreed to expand its..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
US lawyers protest erosion of legal protections in fraud cases
The American Bar Association (ABA) is pushing to weaken the controversial Thompson Memorandum, which gives federal prosecutors significant leverage over companies that provide financial and legal assistance to workers also under investigation.
As a..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
EU entrants Romania and Bulgaria progress in fighting crime
Bulgaria and Romania have sufficiently strengthened their ability to fight organised crime, including fraud, to persuade the European Union (EU) to admit them as member states next January. Assessments completed by the European Commission have..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
OECD tax collectors pledge to fight revenue losses
Rich country tax authority heads have banded together to fight international tax avoidance. Representatives from more than 30 countries, at a Seoul meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s forum on tax..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Kallas keeps up pressure over agriculture subsidy transparency
European Union (EU) anti-fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas has taken his argument for publishing all beneficiaries of EU agricultural subsidies to the farmers who have opposed his plans. He told EU agriculture federation COPA/COGECA: “Receiving..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
Britain to receive special VAT powers to fight carousel fraud
Britain is poised to levy special reverse charges on value added tax (VAT) for certain high-value electronic goods to fight carousel fraud. The European Commission has requested that the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers allow Britain to..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
ECJ poised to reject European arrest warrant challenge
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is poised to reject claims that the European Arrest Warrant system breaks European Union (EU) treaty commitments.
ECJ Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo has formally dismissed claims that it breaks EU extradition law,..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006
International banks agree to cooperate in fighting fraud
A cooperation deal has been signed by seven of the world’s richest development banks to squeeze fraudsters out of projects they fund and oversee. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the..
Online Published Date:
01 October 2006
Appeared in issue:
Oct/Nov 2006 - 01 October 2006