The initiative that’s earned HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) more than half a billion in five years May 26, 2016 The taxman revealed today that its 140 targeted taskforces have helped it to track down more than £500m in five years. Since 2011, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has used taskforces to carry out focused bursts of enforcement activity, including crackdowns on the retail sector, the tobacco industry and the adult entertainment industry. The taskforces have gone from strength [...]
Fraud reaching “epidemic” levels, costing the UK economy more than £6,000 per second or almost £200bn a year May 25, 2016 Fraud is costing the UK economy nearly £200bn per year – or more than £6,000 per second – with businesses being the biggest targets, a report out today has discovered. The study discovered that the private sector was losing roughly £144bn of the £193bn total lost to fraud every year. In particular, procurement fraud, such as issuing fake invoices and [...]
Three men receive sentence totalling just short of 21 years for £79.5m Ponzi scheme fraud May 24, 2016 Three men have today been sentenced to a total of just under 21 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors of an estimated £79.5m. Jolan Saunders, 40, was sentenced to seven years for conspiracy to defraud and one year, which will run concurrently, for acting as a director while disqualified. Meanwhile, Michael Strubel, 54, and Spencer Steinberg, [...]
How your pension could cost you £13,500 May 24, 2016 Those who haven't reviewed their pension contributions since a string of rule changes came into force earlier this year could find themselves facing a hefty tax bill, a London accountancy firm is warning today. Blick Rothenberg has cautioned that people who haven't altered the amount they are topping up their pension pot with since the annual allowance was lowered [...]
Expats told they cannot appeal to Supreme Court for right to vote in EU referendum May 24, 2016 Two British expats have today been blocked from appealing to the Supreme Court over their right to vote in the upcoming EU referendum, on the grounds that there is no basis in law for them to do so. In April, the High Court decided that expats who have lived outside of the UK for more than 15 years should not be allowed [...]
Fraud squad governance much improved since David Green’s appointment, finds report May 24, 2016 Governance at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has improved significantly since the appointment of David Green as director, a report out today has found. The HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate report discovered that the fraud squad had achieved a fundamental shift in its leadership over the last four years. In particular, the report praises the agency for [...]
Libor latest: Accused ex-Barclays trader says he was just doing what he was trained to May 23, 2016 A former Barclays trader accused of Libor-rigging related offences told the court today that email requests by staff for certain rates were indicative of what they were trained to do. Jay Merchant, along with fellow former traders Stylianos Contogoulas, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich and former Libor submitter Jonathan Mathew, is standing trial charged with conspiracy to defraud [...]
White-collar prosecutions edged up last year, the first increase in five years May 23, 2016 Prosecutors are cracking down on white-collar crime, with the number of prosecutions inching up for the first time in five years, research out today has found. The study by law firm Pinsent Masons discovered that there were 9,401 prosecutions for white collar crime last year, compared with 9,343 the year before. "Any increase in prosecutions [...]
Now it’s the advisers’ turn to be grilled by MPs over BHS collapse May 22, 2016 The topic of the BHS collapse will be heading back into parliament tomorrow, with a string of advisers from top law and accountancy firms due to be grilled by MPs. Ian Greenstreet, partner at Nabarro, Tony Clare, partner at Deloitte, David Clarke, partner at KPMG, Richard Cousins and Steve Denison, both partners at PwC, Emma King, partner at Eversheds and Owen [...]
The glass ceiling: women make up half the UK’s lawyers but only a quarter of partners in top firms May 17, 2016 Women make up around half of all lawyers in the UK, but only a quarter of partners in large law firms are female, indicating that the glass ceiling is still very much in place. A survey into diversity in the legal sector by the Solicitors Regulation Authority found that while 47 per cent of qualified [...]