Cross-border investigation into suspected bribery and corruption
05 Dec 2024The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has joined forces with its French counterpart, Parquet National Financier (PNF), to mount an investigation into suspected bribery and corruption at aviation and defence firm Thales. According to an unnamed source, the investigation is related to claims of bribery of a foreign public official, influence trafficking, handling stolen goods and […]
What information is available from Companies House and how useful is it?
19 Nov 2024As forensic accountants we are often provided with copies of documents filed at Companies House but how useful are they? According to its website, Companies House is responsible for: incorporating, maintaining and dissolving limited companies; examining and publishing company information; and promoting transparency and growth in the UK economy[1]. In March 2023, there were over […]
Paying the price of Bounce Back Loan fraud
15 Nov 2024Almost two years after being convicted of Bounce Back Loan fraud, Sameer Saeed, Director of Digital Business Box Ltd, has been forced to sell his BMW and London flat to repay in full the money he received. Saeed fraudulently secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan (BBL) in 2020 by claiming that his company’s turnover was […]
Updated approach to procurement uncovers theft at National Trust
30 Oct 2024The theft of £1 million from the National Trust was discovered after the organisation updated its approach to procurement in 2013. A former National Trust employee was found to have ‘abused his position of trust’ at Bristol Crown Court in September and was jailed alongside his two sons, who were accused of laundering the proceeds […]
Fraud upon fraud in Bounce-Back loan claim
21 Oct 2024A businessman has been jailed following an investigation into a fraudulent Bounce-Back loan claim. Gerald Smith was given a prison sentence of 18 months in September 2024 on two counts related to fraud and concealing criminal property or concealing the use of money. Smith successfully received a loan of £50,000, which he claimed he needed […]
Barristers’ chambers defrauded by £2.75 million
14 Oct 2024A former credit control manager at a top London barristers’ chambers stole money to the tune of £2.75 million, while responsible for the bank account used to pay fees due to barristers. After she left her role in June this year, Gillian Goodfield, also known as Gillian Brown, was suspected of having stolen the money […]
McMafia laws yield multi-million pound assets
01 Oct 2024Zamira Hajiyev, the wife of jailed Azeri banker Jahangir Hajiyev, has agreed to forfeit a house worth £14 million in Knightsbridge and a golf club in Ascot. This decision comes after a civil recovery investigation into the acquisition of the properties by the National Crime Agency (NCA). According to the NCA, the assets were obtained […]
Fraud – it is all about the money – isn’t it?
17 Sep 2024To misquote Jessie J, “It’s all about the money, money, money, forget about the price tag”. Only for most people, it isn’t as simple as forgetting about the price tag. We live in a world that has been hit by an economic downturn and an increase in the cost of living. Employee fraud is on […]
Rise in alleged money laundering
13 Sep 2024According to a recent report, there has been a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of alleged fraud cases coming to court across the UK – with money laundering being the most common fraud type by value in the last six months. So far, nine such cases have been heard this year, valued […]
HMRC to clamp down on businesses fraudulently claiming R&D relief
06 Sep 2024HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has said it will take “decisive action” against business owners who they believe have fraudulently claimed against the Corporation Tax Research and Development tax relief scheme or the Research and Development Expenditure Credit. The schemes, which merged in April 2024 to form one single research and development (R&D) scheme, were […]
Investigation continues into PPE Medpro
27 Aug 2024The National Crime Agency (NCA) has said that its long-running investigation into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of PPE contracts by PPE Medpro, the company led by Conservative peer Michelle Mone’s husband, Doug Barrowman, will be concluded “as quickly as possible”. The company was awarded contracts worth more than £200 million for the […]
Policies reviewed after audit reveals employee theft
21 Aug 2024While the retail sector is famed for ‘inside jobs’ where theft is concerned, employee theft in other sectors is also on the rise. According to a recent report, employees are responsible for more than a third of retail theft, but charities, councils and private businesses also suffer from the problem. However, one way they can […]
Treasurer defrauds animal charity of more than £230,000
12 Aug 2024The Treasurer of an animal charity has pleaded guilty to defrauding the organisation of more than £230,000. Kevin Proctor was Treasurer of the Barnsley Animal Rescue Centre (BARC), one of Yorkshire’s largest animal rescue charities, from August 2016 to August 2022. He was charged with fraud by abuse of position at Sheffield Crown Court on […]
Police Officer accused of theft from Northumbria Police
07 Aug 2024A Police Constable has denied stealing £12,888.22 belonging to the Northumbria Police Authority, while in their employ between 1 September 2022 and 1 October 2023. At Newcastle Crown Court on 24 July, PC Nicola Owen was told that she must go to trial in January 2026. Prosecutors argued that the allegation was so serious it […]
Jail for employee who embezzled more than £1 million
23 Jul 2024A former employee of Aberdeen City Council who pleaded guilty to embezzlement has been jailed for four years and faces confiscation proceedings to recover the money he stole. Michael Paterson started working for the Council in 1988 and was promoted to the position of Council Tax and Recovery Team Leader. In this role, he was […]
Fraudsters jailed for theft from tax payers
16 Jul 2024The lavish lifestyle of a Kent couple, and the evidence investigators found, bore witness to benefit fraud on a huge scale. Wiktoria Packowska and her boyfriend, Wojciech Kowalski, created multiple false identities and made more than 80 false claims across a three-year period totalling £700,000. They were apprehended by Border Force officers in June 2020 […]
When deals go bad
16 Jul 2024You’ve negotiated hard, worked until midnight too many times and the ink is barely dry on the contract when the litigation solicitors get a phone call. What could have gone wrong? Although buying and selling companies is very much the domain of specialised corporate finance advisors, the experience of litigators and forensic accountants can be […]
Beware of invoice scams
03 Jul 2024Recent research suggests that businesses across the UK are being scammed out of millions through invoice and mandate fraud with more than £50 million being stolen in 2023. Separate research suggests that 31 per cent of UK businesses have been the victim of invoice fraud over the past year and, of these, only 39 per […]
Man accused of fraud denies wrongdoing
01 Jul 2024A man accused of two counts of fraud by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has denied swindling investors in a trading scheme, which resulted in alleged losses of almost £2 million. According to the FCA, Lee Maggs from Sittingbourne, Kent, hid “significant losses” from investors as part of a £2.67 million ($3.33 million) scheme trading […]
Mike Lynch cleared of fraud charges in UK
27 Jun 2024Former CEO of Autonomy, Mike Lynch, has been cleared in the US of all fraud charges arising from the $11 billion sale of the company to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011. Dr Lynch, who faced multiple counts of fraud, said he was “elated” and “grateful to the jury for their attention to the facts” throughout the […]
Lengthy investigation brings fraudsters to justice
25 Jun 2024A lengthy investigation by the Insolvency Service has resulted in five people being sentenced for their involvement in a £500,000 fraud and money laundering scheme. Ringleader and convicted fraudster, Neale Rothera, set up businesses that claimed to sell furniture and carpets, and used them as vehicles to commit the offences. The other four companies, ostensibly […]
Mike Lynch defends himself in US Autonomy trial
04 Jun 2024Mike Lynch, co-founder of tech business Autonomy, has been defending himself in court in San Francisco against charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy relating to his company’s acquisition deal with Hewlett Packard. Autonomy, which was founded in 1996, grew to be one of the UK’s biggest companies and was bought by the American […]
Deepfake scam costs Arup £20 million
30 May 2024UK giant design and engineering firm Arup has revealed it was targeted by an artificial intelligence-created deepfake scam that cost it HK$200 million (£20 million). A “deepfake” refers to a type of synthetic media where a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness, typically using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence […]
Car dealership fraudsters jailed
23 May 2024A gang of fraudsters used stolen identities to set up a fake car dealership scam that netted the criminals almost £500,000. The seven-strong gang, led by Shahid Mohammad, created a bogus recruitment firm to steal the identities, which were then used as ‘Directors’ of fake car dealerships. The fraudsters then used addresses of vacant premises […]
Robust processes needed to prevent employee fraud
15 May 2024According to a recent survey by Cifas there has been a marked increase in new recruits committing dishonest conduct against their employers. The Cifas Insider Threat Database (ITD) for dishonest conduct against their employer found that 38 per cent of those reported have been in their position less than a year – up from 21 […]