Fraud Intelligence

The City of London Police (COLP), the lead force on fraud and cybercrime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has unveiled its first ever five-year plan,a'National Policing Strategy for Fraud, Economic and Cyber Crime 2023-2028'.

UK betting group Entain, which owns Ladbrokes and Coral, will pay UK£615m as part of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for failing to prevent bribery at a Turkish subsidiary, since exited, between July 2011 and December 2017. Gambling was illegal in Turkey at the time of the alleged conduct.

The world's leading tech firms, social media and e-commerce platforms have pledged to tackle scams targeting their UK users by acting on a series of commitments within six months under an Online Fraud Charter.

Launched in August 2022 with initial funding of UK£25m over three years, the UK Public Sector Fraud Authority has published its first annual performance report: Niall Hearty of Rahman Ravelli checks on progress and the return to the public purse.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 has introduced a number of changes, including reforms to Companies House and a new Failure to Prevent Fraud offence. Arguably, however, the most radical change is the long-awaited reform of the so-called Identification Doctrine. So, reflect Tony Lewis, Natalie Quinlivan, Farheen Ishtiaq-Stansfeld of Fieldfisher, what does this mean for the future of corporate criminal liability?

2023 has been a year of change at the SFO with a new Director, enhanced investigatory powers and new statutory regime that will make it easier to prosecute corporate criminal offenders. Dropped investigations and acquittals of individuals following trial remain recurrent themes, however, the new Director has already brought an improved dynamism and speed of decision making to the organisation and there are early signs of a positive change in approach. Meanwhile, the UK's less heralded law enforcement agencies such as His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and others have displayed their own willingness and ability to investigate and resolve corporate wrongdoing. Lloyd Firth, Fred Saugman, and Chris Ladusans of WilmerHale look back at how the last 12 months have unfolded.