Apprentice star fraud allegations “destroys decades of work in minutes”
12 Apr 2024Former 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 […]
Operation Henhouse leads to record numbers of arrests
10 Apr 2024A 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 […]
How has forensic accounting changed since the pandemic?
08 Apr 2024The 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 […]
British businessman cleared of embezzlement and tax fraud
04 Apr 2024Doug Barrowman, the husband of disgraced Peer Michelle Mone, has been cleared of any wrongdoing in his Spanish embezzlement and tax fraud trial. Mr Barrowman had been accused of misappropriation and tax evasion by the Spanish courts along with six other British businessmen. The charges related to the purchase in 2008 of a cable factory […]
Audit reveals fraud amounting to almost £320,000
25 Mar 2024Three men who fraudulently supplied a company with poultry worth £318,347 have been convicted of committing fraud and acquiring criminal property. Two of the men, Darren Williams and Elliot Smith, worked at the 2 Sisters Food Group and supplied the meat to Townsend Poultry. According to an investigation, prompted by an audit, more than 80 […]
Restrictions to punish Covid loan misconduct
19 Mar 2024The Insolvency Service has secured bankruptcy restrictions as part of ongoing work to tackle Covid loan misconduct. According to a recent press statement, Bankruptcy Restrictions Orders (BROs) and Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertakings (BRUs) have been secured against individuals who falsely applied for Bounce Back Loans (BBLs) during the pandemic. These restrictions prevent individuals whose conduct has […]
Money launderers jailed for more than 26 years
11 Mar 2024Six members of an organised crime gang have been jailed for more than 26 years in total for sending £26 million of ‘dirty money’ to Dubai as part of a large-scale money laundering scheme. The court heard that the gang members posed as directors of seven separate companies set up purely to launder the cash. […]
Investigation uncovered ‘too much’ evidence
06 Mar 2024The BBC recently revealed that once Post Office subpostmasters and subpostmistresses began legal action against their former employer, a secret investigation into the cash anomalies at branches, suddenly stopped. The investigation, which began in 2016, looked into how and why cash accounts on the Horizon IT system were so inaccurate. It looked through 17 years […]
Trump’s documentary evidence proved fraud
26 Feb 2024The conclusion of the trial into former President Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ approach to business ended this month with him being handed a $354.9 million fine and a three-year ban on serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or entity. In addition, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, the former […]
Fall in Insolvency Service prosecutions
21 Feb 2024According to official figures, charges brought by the Insolvency Service against company Directors fell from 174 in the year to March 2022 to just 95 last year, a decrease of 42 per cent. This is surprising, as there was a rise in fraud and error by company Directors during the pandemic, with HM Revenue & […]
Solicitor jailed for abuse of position
12 Feb 2024A Wiltshire solicitor has been jailed for 24 months after being found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from elderly clients for whom she had power of attorney. Alison Griffiths admitted to her employer in 2021 that she had stolen around £49,000 from a 94-year-old woman in a care home, either by transferring […]
Assets frozen in PPE investigation
02 Feb 2024Assets worth around £75 million controlled by former Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, have been frozen or restrained under a court order obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating allegations of fraud and bribery surrounding PPE Medpro, a company led by Mr Barrowman, over […]
Evidence found that points to tax fraud at Vanquish Options
26 Jan 2024Emails and other documents linking Vanquish Options and the husband of ex-Tory peer Michelle Mone, Doug Barrowman, suggest that there are grounds to open a criminal investigation into Vanquish Options. According to tax experts, financial records suggest that Mr Barrowman is linked to a series of tax avoidance companies that may have assisted their clients […]
Investigation into “sizeable systemic fraud” at Age UK
22 Jan 2024Gloucester Police has confirmed it has interviewed an employee of Age UK Gloucestershire under caution after reports of a “sizeable, systemic fraud” dating back to 2016. A file passed to officers suggests that the charity’s county operation could have lost almost £460,000. According to Age UK Gloucestershire’s Chief Executive Matt Fellows, the fraud was discovered […]
More Subpostmasters to get justice after ITV drama is aired
12 Jan 2024Following the airing of the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office in early January, fifty more people have asked for legal advice, some of whom are former sub-postmasters whom the Post Office prosecuted between 1999 and 2015. The Metropolitan Police confirmed on 5 January that its officers are now exploring “potential fraud offences” arising from […]
Forensic Accountant supports Post Office scandal victims
11 Jan 2024A dramatisation of the Post Office Horizon scandal aired over the New Year demonstrates the importance of forensic audits in defence of fraud. The four-part series entitled Mr Bates vs the Post Office tells the story of Post Office staff who found themselves accused of stealing thousands of pounds from their branches. Between 2000 and 2014, more […]
Cardinal sentenced to prison after longest-ever Vatican trial
03 Jan 2024Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former adviser to Pope Francis, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail for financial crimes after a trial lasting two-and-half years. Becciu, the most senior Catholic Church official ever to stand trial before a Vatican criminal court, was convicted of embezzlement and fraud. The investigation hinged on the purchase in […]
Investigators found ‘huge gaps’ in the accounts
18 Dec 2023A lettings agent in Rochdale stole a ‘significant sum’ from her employer in a fraud that saw her siphoning off landlords’ rental payments into her own accounts. Joanne Barker left her estate agency on the brink of bankruptcy after four years of fraudulent activity, during which she cheated her employers out of money. Barker joined […]
Men jailed after lengthy and complex fraud investigation
12 Dec 2023Two Liverpool-based men have been jailed recently for a total of 14 years for fraud, following a six-year-long investigation. Graham Wortley and Robert Ware were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud after carrying out a “sophisticated” mortgage scam over a period of three and a half years. The investigation proved that the men had encouraged […]
Emotional toll of Shakira’s fraud investigation
04 Dec 2023Colombian singer Shakira has settled a tax fraud case with the Spanish authorities that could have seen her facing eight years in jail if found guilty, saying she needs to “move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years”. Although she still denies wrongdoing, the pop icon paid a fine of €7.4 […]
Government to give “no quarter with incidents of fraud”
27 Nov 2023At Treasury questions recently, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that more than 50 criminal investigations have begun into suspected fraud linked to COVID-19 support schemes. However, according to Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the COVID-19 inquiry is uncovering “unsavoury examples of government mismanagement”. Ms Reeves claimed that ministers ignored warnings that their business loan schemes were vulnerable […]
Judge rules on the evidence in the Trump trial
20 Nov 2023In the fraud trial that threatens former President Donald Trump’s business empire, the Judge has already ruled that Mr Trump and the other defendants were liable for fraud based on the evidence put before the court. The trial stems from a lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, which accuses Mr Trump and […]
Beware of online fraud
02 Nov 2023A small business that supplies hairbrushes by Royal Warrant was defrauded to the tune of £1.6 million, a mere 20 minutes after the Financial Controller was tricked into giving criminals access to the company bank account. Steve Wright, CEO of Kent Brushes, was horrified to hear of the scam and even more astounded to find […]
‘Extravagant, lavish lifestyle’ funded through fraud
30 Oct 2023A company director has been jailed for six years after being part of a fraud scheme, where invoices worth £1 million were submitted to suppliers in respect of work not undertaken. Paul Fitzsimmons had been a Facilities and Services Manager for almost 20 years at a US law firm where, as part of his role, […]
Call for HMRC to clamp down on tax evaders
13 Oct 2023A report from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and TaxWatch has led to calls for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to clamp down on wealthy tax offenders. The bodies’ investigation found that HMRC has only prosecuted 11 wealthy individuals in the last year, despite the Revenue’s staffing budget for this type of investigation rising […]