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Bankman-Fried found guilty of defrauding FTX customers of US$ billions
It took a New York jury under five hours, on 2 November [2023], to find former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of all charges that he defrauded his customers of billions of dollars. SBF, as he's known, now faces decades in jail, though he will appeal the verdict.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Ex-Formula 1 CEO pleads guilty to fraud and escapes prison
The former Chief Executive of the Formula One Group, Bernie Ecclestone, has pleaded guilty to a single charge of fraud by false representation over the alleged millions of UK pounds he hid from British tax authorities.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Disclosure and fraud offences review under way
Foreshadowed in the Fraud Strategy, published May [2023], the UK government, on 12 October [2023], announced an independent review into the operation of the disclosure regime and whether existing fraud offences are fit for purpose in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
309 - 01 December 2023
Disclosure and fraud offences review under way
Foreshadowed in the Fraud Strategy, published May [2023], the UK government, on 12 October [2023], announced an independent review into the operation of the disclosure regime and whether existing fraud offences are fit for purpose in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Social media & search engines face new anti-fraud duty under UK Online Safety Act
The UK Online Safety Act received Royal Assent on 26 October [2023], an event that consumer association Which? described as "a major step forward in the fight back against fraud". The new law will authorise penalties for social media companies and search engines that fail to prevent their platforms from being used for fraud - for false claims, profiles and promotions through to misleading statements and counterfeiting, whether via user-generated content or paid-for advertising. Under the law, these companies must carry out risk assessments of their platforms' possible use for fraud; act against any discovered scams (including removing harmful content); and open channels to report illegal content.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Social media & search engines face new anti-fraud duty under UK Online Safety Act
The UK Online Safety Act received Royal Assent on 26 October [2023], an event that consumer association Which? described as "a major step forward in the fight back against fraud". The new law will authorise penalties for social media companies and search engines that fail to prevent their platforms from being used for fraud - for false claims, profiles and promotions through to misleading statements and counterfeiting, whether via user-generated content or paid-for advertising. Under the law, these companies must carry out risk assessments of their platforms' possible use for fraud; act against any discovered scams (including removing harmful content); and open channels to report illegal content.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
309 - 01 December 2023
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023: tough medicine?
A corporate offence of failure to prevent fraud, Companies House reforms that impose integrity checks on data submitted and extant, and changes to the identification doctrine that will make it easier to prosecute senior managers - the expansive Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 finally received Royal Assent on 27 October. Tony Lewis, Natalie Quinlivan, Farheen Ishtiaq-Stansfeld and Katherine Varatharajah of Fieldfisher review the statute and its likely impact on business in the battle against fraud.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
309 - 01 December 2023
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023: tough medicine?
A corporate offence of failure to prevent fraud, Companies House reforms that impose integrity checks on data submitted and extant, and changes to the identification doctrine that will make it easier to prosecute senior managers - the expansive Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 finally received Royal Assent on 27 October. Tony Lewis, Natalie Quinlivan, Farheen Ishtiaq-Stansfeld and Katherine Varatharajah of Fieldfisher review the statute and its likely impact on business in the battle against fraud.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Supercharged detection - the promise in computational advances
Milestones in mathematical research on algorithms are passed with increasing frequency, which, combined with accelerating development in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, Keith Nuthall finds could radically shift the fraud advantage in favour of investigators.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Supercharged detection - the promise in computational advances
Milestones in mathematical research on algorithms are passed with increasing frequency, which, combined with accelerating development in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, Keith Nuthall finds could radically shift the fraud advantage in favour of investigators.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
309 - 01 December 2023
UK banks and challengers ranked for authorized push payment fraud
Ahead of new rules, effective sometime next year [2024], that will split refund costs of authorized push payment (APP) fraud equally between sending and receiving UK financial institutions, the regulator has published data on the value and volume of losses going through their customers' accounts.
Online Published Date:
07 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
UK scraps guarantees on Covid loan schemes
The UK government's British Business Bank (BBB) has cancelled some guarantees offered to banks to lend to crisis-hit businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Online Published Date:
10 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Fraud risk management at payment firms "disappoints" UK regulator
A "high-level evaluation" of how a dozen UK banks and other payment firms approach fraud risk management has delivered "disappointing" results, according to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Online Published Date:
10 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Public Sector Fraud Authority shoots past target, saving £311m for UK taxpayer
In its first full year of operation, the UK Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) exceeded targeted savings of UK£180m (US$221m) in losses to prevent and recover UK£311m (US$382m). The agency also underspent its 2022/23 budget of UK£11.25m (US$13.82m) by 7%.
Online Published Date:
14 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
EU member states failing to apply whistleblower law
European Union (EU) member states are failing to comply with the bloc's 2019 whistleblower protection directive and two - Estonia and Poland - have not implemented the legislation at all, according to a new report from Transparency International.
Online Published Date:
15 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
How text mining can be used to detect fraud
Many fraud examiners may be more familiar with number-crunching than parsing words; but, as a use-case shows below, high-volume text analysis can be of significant assistance in identifying deceit. Lacey Keller of MK Analytics and Erik Halvorson of the US Department of Energy set out methodology for text extraction from diverse sources, as well as analysing the content.
Online Published Date:
18 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Why the SFO needs friends abroad
The new Serious Fraud Office director is not only undertaking one of the UK's most difficult and criticised roles but is unused to the international nature of the work. Jessica Parker of Corker Binning discusses the legal framework for cooperation across borders and best approaches.
Online Published Date:
18 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Civil Recovery Orders of limited use to crypto-crime victims
A recent UK case is believed to be the first successful use of a CRO to capture funds from digital wallets. But, as Nicola McKinney of Quillon Law reports, victims of crypto fraud still face formidable obstacles in order to recover their property through the courts.
Online Published Date:
18 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Opportunity in threat - prospects for pursuers
Hard economic times make for more exposure of and, arguably, to corporate fraud: there should be a silver lining for those with the skills to investigate and defend against it. Keith Nuthall and Andreia Nogueirago looking.
Online Published Date:
24 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
Bank fraud data - nipping at the behemoth
Some of the statistics for payment scams through UK financial institutions are nudging down, the latest data shows. But, in a bigger picture of rampant fraud, banks are being asked to do more and want cross-sector action, reports Esther Martin.
Online Published Date:
24 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023
EU institutions - a hard look in the corruption mirror
A year on from 'Qatargate' - the investigation and arrest of MEPs for allegedly taking payments from governments of non-European Union countries to influence bloc policies - Sara Lewis looks at how much attitudes to and control of graft in the corridors of power have changed in Brussels.
Online Published Date:
24 November 2023
Appeared in issue:
December 2023/January 2024 - 01 December 2023