The former head of one of the Ukraine’s biggest banks is currently in the High Court accused of defrauding the bank through a “complex string of financial transactions”. Gennadiy Bogolyubov is also at the centre of a row over how and why he was given a “golden” visa to live in the UK and buy […]
As Prime Minister Theresa May visits Kenya, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt has announced a series of aid programmes that will help to recover millions of pounds of illegal assets. As Ms Mordaunt pointed out, illicit finance sees “dirty money” diverted away from people in poor countries to individuals involved in crime, terrorism and fraud. […]
A Russian oligarch has been ordered by a High Court judge to make documents available relating to his finances after it was deemed that he has taken “numerous elaborate steps” to hide his wealth. Farkhad Akhmedov, a former oil and gas trader who made his fortune in the Russian energy sector was found to be […]
There has been a lot of news recently about how a forensic linguist helped to convict a murderer by identifying tiny differences in his writing habits to that of his victim. In this case, an experienced forensic linguist revealed how differences in the murderer’s punctuation helped to prove that the texts he sent from his […]
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request has found that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is using its ‘offshore, corporate and wealthy unit’ to investigate more than 800 UK taxpayers with assets in offshore tax havens. The taxman’s target is to prosecute 100 wealthy individuals and corporates a year until 2020. This series of prosecutions stems […]
The case of fraudsters being thwarted by financial investigators using “good, old-fashioned detailed assessment” and interviews illustrates how vital it is for forensic accountants to use traditional methods of enquiry as well as more technologically advanced techniques. Recently, teams of financial investigators have been brought in to prevent fraud in East Anglia by people trying […]
A recent case of financial impropriety that was dropped after a thorough investigation shows that a forensic inspection of records can exonerate, as well as convict defendants. The former Chairman of Leeds Ladies FC was arrested in May 2017 over fraud claims but police have now ended the investigation. A police spokesperson said there was […]
If a spouse is caught trying to hide his or her assets in a divorce case in California, the court has the ability to award 100 per cent of the value of the assets to the other party. While the law is not so draconian in the UK, it is never a good idea to […]
The German wife of a millionaire banker raced to file a divorce petition in England after she discovered that her husband had taken his mistress to the office party. However, although Catja Thum filed a petition in England on 26 October 2015, Mr Thum claims that he knew nothing of his wife’s decision until the […]
The investigation into the financial dealings of a boss of a multi-million-pound drugs trafficking racket has not stopped now he has been jailed for 32 years. If anything, the investigation has stepped up to find out where he hid his profits so that he can pay for his crimes. One of the problems investigators faced […]
The Malaysian government is to investigate a £1.6 billion deal to transfer the ownership of Battersea Power Station between Malaysian investors, amid fears that the funds of ‘ordinary’ Malaysians were used to invest in it. The leader of Malaysia’s newly elected Pakatan Harapan coalition government, Anwar Ibrahim, has called for an investigation into a series […]
The UK’s costliest divorce is currently playing out in the UK courts after a Russian oligarch refused to pay the equivalent of $646 million to his ex-wife following their divorce in England. In December 2016, billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov was ordered by a High Court judge to split his assets down the middle. However, Mr Akhmedov […]
A convicted fraudster is having his lifestyle investigated after claiming he is too poor to repay the proceeds of his crimes yet has jetted around the world in the past five years. According to prosecutors, Gerald Smith, who was jailed for eight years in 2006, has spent more than £200,000 on flights alone, despite claiming […]
UK Power Networks has launched a forensic investigation into its own Chief Executive, Basil Scarsella, after a whistleblower raised concerns over contracts awarded to his son’s business. The investigation related to a £75 million IT contract that was awarded by the energy company to a firm called Enzen, where Mr Scarsella’s son is Business Operations […]
A former Chief Executive at Age Concern has been convicted of stealing more than £700,000 during an eight-year fraud. It was uncovered after a financial manager spotted a supporting document for a fraudulent payment and a forensic investigation was set in motion. John Briers was found guilty at Newcastle Crown Court of paying 60 cheques […]
Viewers of new BBC drama The Split will have seen how forensic accountants are used in divorce cases. In the show, a very wealthy businessman decides he wants to divorce his wife of 20-plus years and finds a lawyer with a reputation of being fierce in her negotiations to represent him. Unfortunately for him, his […]
Since the so-called ‘Paradise Papers’ leak last Autumn, which produced a flurry of stories, there has been little further news but that changed in April this year with the showing of a BBC Panorama expose. In the programme, entitled Gangsters’ Dirty Money Exposed, researchers claim that a Ukrainian crime gang used offshore firms in British […]
In recent weeks, reports have emerged of prominent companies and organisations using artificial intelligence (AI) to crack down on financial crimes. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) reportedly hired an “AI lawyer” to assist in analysing complex documents in its recent case against Rolls-Royce, while HSBC is allegedly investing money in “bringing in robots” to help […]
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has started an investigation into the conduct of two former directors of the bankrupt construction firm, Carillion, in relation to the preparation and approval of the financial statements of the business. Richard Adam and Zafar Khan, who had both been Group Finance Director of the collapsed firm, will be scrutinised […]
News that Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the heart of the so-called ‘Panama Papers’ is to close down is a reminder of how important reputation is to a business. In a recent statement the Panamanian law firm said that “reputational deterioration” and “the financial consequences and irregular actions by some Panamanian authorities” had caused irreparable […]
Following the banning of Paul Flowers, former Chair of Co-operative Bank, from the financial services industry, the Treasury has directed the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to conduct an investigation into the bank’s collapse. Chair of the Treasury Committee, Nick Morgan, has welcomed the “hugely overdue” review and has asked for it to be completed in […]
Chief Executive of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), Christine Tacon, has announced a full investigation into the Co-operative supermarket’s treatment of its suppliers. The GCA said the retailer may have breached the Code through practices relating to de-listing and the introduction of benchmarking and depot quality control charges over a period covering early 2016 to […]
A politician from central Asia has become the first person to fall foul of the new “Unexplained Wealth Order’ (UWO) regulations brought in to stem the flood of laundered money that allegedly washes through London. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has secured UWOs, which came into force on 31 January this year, to look at […]
Hundreds of sub-postmasters have secured funding for a class action lawsuit against the Post Office after being taken to court in 2009. The case, which is being brought by the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance, relates to an allegedly faulty accounting system called Horizon. The system showed branches to be in financial deficit, which led to […]
A new show is about to start on BBC1 called Murder, Mystery and My Family. The show will re-examine cold cases through a modern forensic prism and find out if people who were convicted and executed for murder were actually guilty or whether the evidence had been purely circumstantial. This might seem an odd thing […]