Isle of Man tax haven more open thanks to forensic accountants
13 Oct 2011Forensic accountants, economists and lawyers at the heart of an organisation campaigning against tax havens have praised the Isle of Man Government for their efforts to make money laundering and tax avoidance more difficult. The Tax Justice Network (TJN) says the island has moved down its secrecy league to thirty-sixth position because it has joined […]
Forensic accountants help uncover theft of charity money
07 Oct 2011Howard Rose (c) BBC News A sixty-three year old charity administrator is serving a fifteen month jail term after he admitted stealing more than seventy six thousand pounds from a children’s charity. York Crown Court was told that forensic accountants working with police officers uncovered evidence that Howard Rose from The Village, Earswick […]
Forensic accountants in energy price investigation
04 Oct 2011UK energy industry regulator Ofgem has called in forensic accountants as it steps up its investigation into pricing by the big six suppliers. The action has been prompted by EDF Energy’s decision to put up its gas prices by 15.4 per cent and electricity prices by 4.5 per cent from 10th November. It is the […]
Accountancy giant denies allegations that it missed US mortgage fraud
03 Oct 2011A leading international accountancy firm is facing allegations that it did not use sufficient forensic skills to detect fraud while auditing an American mortgage company that went under in the US housing crash. Complaints have been filed in a Florida Court against Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.(DTT) alleging that the fraud went undetected over a seven year […]
Forensic accountants could face being caught on camera in court
06 Sep 2011In her address to both Houses of Parliament, the Queen has announced that television cameras will be allowed to film in Court for the first time in Britain. Its part of the detailed programme of legislation proposed for the coming year. This is the culmination of a long-running campaign which was given fresh impetus, earlier […]
MPs criticise the taxman for poor customer service
31 Jul 2011Within days of admitting under-ordering paper for tax statements, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has once again been forced to apologise, this time for poor customer service. The criticism came from the Treasury Select Committee of MPs, who concluded that dissatisfaction with the taxman was at such a level that there was a risk of […]
UK audit industry faces competition investigation
31 Jul 2011After much discussion, consumer watchdog, The Office of Fair Trading, has decided to call for an independent inquiry into the audit industry following criticism of the actions of four of Britain’s largest accountancy firms. The OFT started to examine the industry after allegations of poor quality published accounts and conflicts of interest against Deloitte, KPMG, […]
Self assessment paper problems no bar to accurate tax payments
28 Jul 2011Around half a million self-employed taxpayers are being given an extra two months to make their July tax payment because of an error by the UK tax authorities. It’s been revealed that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs did not order enough special paper to meet the demand for printing statements confirming the amount of tax […]
New business wins damages before it starts
27 Jul 2011The key role of robust and reliable expert accountancy evidence is headlined in the latest NIFA newsletter with an analysis of the judgement in the case of XYZ against Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust after attempts by a man to launch a new business were dealt a major blow after a botched kidney operation. A quick […]
Forensic accountants untangle web of alleged fraud over Olympic tickets
01 Jun 2011Forensic accountants were needed to untangle a web of deceit created by a gang of alleged fraudsters according to claims by Prosecutors at the trial of five defendants accused of conning thousands of customers out of tickets for the Beijing Olympic Games. The jury at Southwark Crown Court heard how the five were said to […]
‘Legal eagle’ jailed for defrauding elderly clients
20 Apr 2011A legal executive, who defrauded elderly clients while working at a firm of solicitors on trust probate cases, is starting a two and a half year sentence after pleading guilty to four charges of fraud by abuse of position between 2004 and 2009. Forty-four year old Jacqueline D’Hazzard from Goldstone Road, Hove, East Sussex, was […]
Expert witness immunity against suit falls in landmark Supreme Court decision
30 Mar 2011In a landmark Supreme Court decision, a panel of seven senior judges has decided that expert witnesses, across the criminal, family and civil courts, should no longer have immunity from claims against them for breach of duty in contract or in negligence. Immunity against slander and libel remain in place. Although this landmark case did […]
MPs warn the taxmen to get their act together on tackling fraud and evasion
17 Mar 2011A committee of MPs has warned tax collectors that they need to get their act together to meet Government targets on tackling tax fraud and evasion. In its report, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) needed to work out how best to get closer to the eighteen billion […]
City trader jailed after admitting large scale investment fraud
15 Feb 2011A City trader who defrauded more than 300 victims of up to fourteen million pounds has been jailed for eight years. Sentencing 63-year old Terry Freeman, Southwark Crown Court heard how investors handed over hundreds of thousands of pounds to his company GFX Capital believing they were likely to receive big financial returns. Instead, said […]
TV ‘Apprentice’ fraudster escapes prison
28 Jan 2011A 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 […]
Accountancy expert evidence at heart of fifty million pound mortgage fraud trial
25 Jan 2011Southwark 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 […]
Fighting the anti-fraud fight featured in new publication
22 Jan 2011Probing 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 […]
More fraudulent loan applications than ever before says new research
02 Jan 2011Attempted 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 […]
Row brews as academics uncover flaws in bank card Chip and PIN technology
02 Jan 2011The 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 […]
Forensic accountancy unlocks a twelve million pound VAT fraud
26 Nov 2010The 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 […]
Nineteen thousand consumers to benefit from the work of forensic accountants
04 Nov 2010The 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 help uncover solicitor fraud
25 Oct 2010Forensic 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 […]
Police question ‘gang’ suspected of multi-million pound online banking theft
02 Oct 2010Specialist 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 […]
Senior forensic accountant sent on fishing expedition
23 Jun 2010NIFA 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
What the NIFA member had to say on the collapse of a Christmas savings company
23 Jun 2010When 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 […]