Following a grisly trail
06 Oct 2017Following the massacre in Las Vegas last Sunday, there has been huge speculation about the gunman’s motives and attention has turned to his financial history in a bid to find clues. Apparently, Stephen Paddock sent $100,000 to a Philippines bank account days before he carried out his dreadful crime. The account belongs to Paddock’s long-term […]
Tracking the smallest financial anomalies
29 Sep 2017After the UK’s Criminal Finances Act comes into force today (30 September), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be able to pursue money laundering, tax evasion and the possible facilitation of terror financing anywhere in the world. The Act is extremely far-reaching and will put the spotlight on a huge range of businesses. Terror financing […]
Lengthy investigation
25 Sep 2017Airbus, Europe’s largest aerospace multinational, appears to be facing years of investigation by French and UK authorities amid allegations of corruption over jet sales. The investigation began after Airbus drew the attention of regulators to inaccurate declarations it had made to the export credit finance agency over payments to sales agents. According to the Guardian […]
Trawling through the evidence
19 Sep 2017An investigation into a £10.25 million loan to Northampton Town FC has necessitated the analysis and examination of thousands of financial transactions, more than 500 statements and more than 2,100 exhibits. The case revolves around a loan of more than £10 million by Northampton Borough Council to the football club to enable it to complete […]
The UK’s lightly regulated corporate landscape allows money laundering…
12 Sep 2017… So says a top forensic investigator who has alleged that the UK is at the centre of $3 billion (£2.27 billion) worth of laundered Azerbaijani money. The so-called ‘Azerbaijani Laundromat’ was uncovered in a joint investigation by 17 European media organisations, including the Guardian and Le Monde and was published by the Organised Crime […]
White collar crime prosecutions fall although offences are up
05 Sep 2017Recent research shows that the number of white collar crime prosecutions in the UK fell by 12 per cent between 2015 and 2016, even though there was a four per cent increase in the number of reported offences. In fact, the number of prosecutions has fallen by 26 per cent since 2011, when there were […]
Samsung heir found guilty of bribery and hiding assets
01 Sep 2017The heir-apparent to the Samsung business has been jailed for five years for corruption, including bribery, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas. Lee Jae-yong, also known as Jay Y Lee, was arrested in February for bribing Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of South Korea’s impeached president, Park Geun-hye, to secure government support for a business deal. […]
Study highlights shell company loopholes
30 Aug 2017According to a new study of corporate filings, some UK shell companies under offshore control may be skirting new rules that were designed to clamp down on corruption and tax evasion. A shell company is a corporation without active business operations or significant assets that is used to preserve anonymity and, sometimes, illegal activity, such […]
How to find those hidden assets
29 Aug 2017News that Roman Abramovich is about to get divorced for the third time and is facing a hefty payout to his wife is a reminder that when either partner has wealth, the ‘other side’ will want to ensure they are admitting to all of it. Of course, there is no suggestion that the Chelsea owner […]
Hiding Behind a Shell
04 Aug 2017Soccer superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been accused by the Spanish authorities of using what they believe to be a shell company in the Virgin Islands to “create a screen” in order to hide his total income, which amounts to almost £13m, from Spain’s Tax Office. Ronaldo has been accused by Madrid’s regional state prosecutor […]
When there is no evidence of wrongdoing
04 Aug 2017The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has closed its criminal investigation into the conduct of the Bank of England saying that, after a thorough investigation, there is “no evidence of criminality in relation to this matter”. The SFO had been looking into whether banks and building societies had been told by the Bank to bid for […]
A family affair
04 Aug 2017A Surrey man and his wife, brother, sister and mother have all been found guilty of fraud after what local police described as “a very complex case, which took substantial time and effort to unravel”. The ‘lynchpin’, Jason Huggett, worked for an international firm, where he negotiated contracts, arranged for work to be carried out […]
Forensic investigation element of UK’s longest criminal trial
04 Aug 2017A case that started in Glasgow’s High Court in September 2015 has just ended with the jailing of a married couple for large-scale property fraud in what is believed to be longest criminal trial in UK legal history. The case has been described by police as “one of the largest, most complicated property fraud investigations […]
Investigation to see if there is a case to answer
04 Aug 2017While some cases can be brought on strong suspicion of wrongdoing, others require an investigation to see whether or not there is a case to answer. On such occasions, a matter is investigated and the evidence found is put before the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which will weigh up the chances of a successful prosecution. […]
When the accused fights back
04 Aug 2017Any investigation in the British courts involves an opportunity for individuals or entities accused of a crime to put their arguments forward. This means that a forensic accountant’s investigation can be used to prove innocence as well as guilt, and key to any investigation is the analysis of evidence. A current example which demonstrates the […]
Dirty Money
20 Jun 2017According to The Financial Times, the amount of ‘dirty money’ washing around in the UK financial system has reached a record high. The newspaper’s research found that requests for information from foreign governments, regarding money laundering activity, have jumped by a massive 12 per cent in the last year, making the crime top of the […]
Following the money
07 Jun 2017‘Follow the money’ is a key exhortation in most investigations, as cash is a used as a motivator even in crimes that appear to have nothing to do with it. One recent example of this is the alleged involvement of Donald Trump’s presidency with Russia. According to some sources, independent forensic accounts, legislators and the […]
Following the money
07 Jun 2017‘Follow the money’ is a key exhortation in most investigations, as cash is a used as a motivator even in crimes that appear to have nothing to do with it. One recent example of this is the alleged involvement of Donald Trump’s presidency with Russia. According to some sources, independent forensic accounts, legislators and the […]
Forensic investigators giving expert witness evidence
05 Jun 2017Investigations have been ongoing for some years in the case of a South Wales man who was found to have hidden assets by a judge earlier this month. The man owns a skip hire business and had already been jailed for eight months for breaching conditions of his waste permit. He was originally investigated following […]
Financial investigation prompts Charity Commission action
23 May 2017A financial investigation by Yorkshire Police into a martial arts charity has prompted the Charity Commission to freeze the charity’s bank accounts. The force has begun a financial investigation into the Jack Raine Community Foundation, which works with children and families and runs coaching sessions in contact and non-contact martial arts and education. The police […]
Evidence of efficacy of forensic accountants
12 May 2017A new study has proved that business owners and individuals are recognising the benefits of bringing in a forensic accountant early in cases such as professional negligence or a shareholder dispute, as their use shot up by over 20 per cent in the year to December 2016. The Network of Independent Forensic Accountants (NIFA) found […]
Washing the dirty laundry
12 May 2017Type ‘money laundering UK’ into a Google search and you get over 200,000 results. Many may not be relevant but there is no doubt that money laundering features more commonly in the commercial world than ever before. In a nutshell, money laundering is the process of seeking to give apparent legitimacy to the proceeds of […]
Evidence for forensic accountants
02 May 2017HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has this week raided two football clubs and arrested a number of people in a bid to recover evidence that will be used in a forensic investigation. 180 officers were deployed across the UK and France and have collected business records, computers, mobile phones and financial documentation that will be […]
Forensic examination of cycling body’s records
26 Apr 2017British Cycling has been asked to open its financial records to forensic examination after allegations of impropriety over several years. In essence, the governing body has been accused of misusing public money intended for its World Class Performance programme (WCP). There have been claims that bikes and equipment bought with public money were sold privately […]
Shell companies
10 Apr 2017Forensic financial investigations appear to be flavour of the month on television at the moment, as, hard on the heels of Follow the Money, another series, Vera, has been talking about “getting the forensic boys in”. However, where Follow the Money is all about the shenanigans of a shady bank chief, in the latest episode […]