A former Royal marine, who appeared as a contestant on the BBC TV business series ‘The Apprentice’, has escaped jail with a suspended sentence after admitting four counts of fraud and asking for three further offences to be taken into account. Former mortgage broker Christopher Farrell attempted to dupe lenders by falsifying customers’ applications to […]
Southwark Crown Court has heard allegations that six solicitors conned banks and building societies into lending almost fifty million pounds on mortgages for properties worth just six million pounds, which the Prosecution say was "one of the largest mortgage frauds ever perpetrated in the UK". Simon Lawrence, Fatema Patwa, Hardeep Sodhi, Laurence Ferrigan, Kamran Malik […]
Probing the fraudster’s psyche, trailing cyber-criminals and tracking rogue schemers are just some of the cutting edge issues to feature in a forthcoming publication that will analyse advances in anti-fraud measures. The editors are aiming to help senior executive readers develop practical and innovative approaches to fighting the anti-fraud fight as the analogue era of […]
The publication of the postgraduate paper highlighting the discovery by scientists at Cambridge University of flaws in the chip and PIN technology used to secure credit and debit card transactions has led to a major row between academics and the banking industry. The UK Cards Association (UKCA), which represents the country’s biggest banks, wrote to […]
Attempted loan fraud has soared by nearly sixty per cent during the past year as consumers try to conceal problems with their credit history in order to borrow money, according to new research published by credit referencing agency Experian. In the survey, researchers found that seven out of every ten thousand personal loan applications made […]
The expertise of forensic accountants has helped Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to successfully prosecute a former secretary who funded a luxury lifestyle on the proceeds of a £12 million VAT fraud. Before sentencing her to ten years imprisonment, a Court heard how Jayne Mitchell, 40, bought Ferraris, luxury properties and went on lavish […]
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme have announced that around nineteen thousand consumers, who lost money in the collapse of investment bond company Keydata, are to set to receive compensation, although the details have yet to be published. The FSCS as it’s known said that its investigation, led by a team of forensic accountancy specialists, had […]
Forensic accountants working with the joint Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate have helped uncover fraud by a solicitor to the tune of quarter of a million pounds. Before sentencing the fifty-eight year old fomer legal representative Derek Speed from Dextor Close in Canterbury to five years in jail, Maidstone Crown Court heard him admit […]
Specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Central E-crime unit are questioning nineteen people suspected of orchestrating a multi-million pound attack on Britain’s banking system. Officers have told NIFA News that the suspected gang of computer hackers have stolen up to six million pounds from accounts in just three months. The unit’s Detective Chief Inspector Terry […]
An ex-MP due to stand for trial accused of fiddling her parliamentary expenses has been declared unfit to stand trial. NIFA News has learnt that, according to consultant psychiatrist Philip Joseph, the former member for Luton South, 56 year old Margaret Moran, is suffering from a depressive illness as well as extreme anxiety and agitation. […]
A BBC ‘File on 4’ investigation has uncovered what it described as reckless lending by a leading HIgh Street bank that reportedly led to companies being forced out of business over ‘excessive’ charges and bad practice. One of the two companies featured on the programme, Cotton Bottoms, secured a £ 400,000 loan from HBOS. But […]
When a Christmas savings company collapsed, BBC News turned to NIFA for specialist advice to find out why it happened. Farepak borrowed £34 million pounds from bankers to buy the savings business but three years later sold it for less than an estimated tenth of what it had paid. The loan was called in and […]
NIFA members don’t tell stories about the one that got away but about the one they captured. Congratulations to Martin Jackson (pictured left). who won the World Sturgeon Championship. There are more pictures and details on www.worldsturgeonclassic.com