McMafia laws yield multi-million pound assets

Zamira 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 […]

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Fraud – it is all about the money – isn’t it?

To 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 […]

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Rise in alleged money laundering

According 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 […]

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HMRC to clamp down on businesses fraudulently claiming R&D relief

HM 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 […]

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Investigation continues into PPE Medpro

The 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 […]

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Policies reviewed after audit reveals employee theft

While 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 […]

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Treasurer defrauds animal charity of more than £230,000

The 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 […]

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Police Officer accused of theft from Northumbria Police

A 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 […]

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Jail for employee who embezzled more than £1 million

A 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 […]

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Fraudsters jailed for theft from tax payers

The 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 […]

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When deals go bad

You’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 […]

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Beware of invoice scams

Recent 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 […]

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Man accused of fraud denies wrongdoing

A 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 […]

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Mike Lynch cleared of fraud charges in UK

Former 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 […]

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Lengthy investigation brings fraudsters to justice

A 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 […]

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Mike Lynch defends himself in US Autonomy trial

Mike 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 […]

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Deepfake scam costs Arup £20 million

UK 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 […]

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Car dealership fraudsters jailed

A 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 […]

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Robust processes needed to prevent employee fraud

According 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 […]

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Probate Manager jailed for fraud and money laundering

A Probate Manager, and the friend who aided and abetted her criminal activity over 13 years, have been jailed for defrauding and laundering more than £634,000 from the estates of deceased clients. While working at two different law firms in Tamworth, Laurna Porter took funds destined for charities or friends and relatives from 23 different […]

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Serious charge aimed at former SNP Chief Executive

Former Scottish National Party (SNP) Chief Executive Peter Murrell has been re-arrested and charged in connection with alleged embezzlement of Party funds. Mr Murrell was first arrested ‘as a suspect’ in April last year but was then released without charge. At the same time, a £110,000 campervan was seized by police from outside his mother’s […]

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Massive rise in company directors disqualified for Covid load abuse

According to the latest Insolvency Service figures, 80 per cent more company directors were banned for abusing Covid loan schemes in 2023-24 than in the previous year. This amounts to more than 800 individuals who were banned on average for more than 10 years. As a spokesman for the Insolvency Service commented, the agency is […]

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Apprentice star fraud allegations “destroys decades of work in minutes”

Former Apprentice contestant Raj Dhonota has spoken out about a recent year-long police investigation that finally put paid to claims of fraudulent behaviour during bankruptcy. Mr Dhonota starred in the first-ever series of the popular TV series aired in 2005, four years after the businessman was first declared bankrupt. He was fired by Lord Sugar in week […]

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Operation Henhouse leads to record numbers of arrests

A nationwide fraud investigation, called Operation Henhouse, has led to a “record” number of arrests for fraud, with a 52 per cent increase in the number of arrests that the operation achieved in the previous year. This multi-agency initiative ran across February and March this year and has led to 438 arrests, the freezing of […]

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How has forensic accounting changed since the pandemic?

The first COVID-19 national lockdown is now four years ago. Around that unprecedented time, professional advisers were concerned about whether their business would survive the lockdowns, not least as it was no longer possible to meet face to face with clients or referrers. Since then, we’ve seen the litigation market change, but more so in […]

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