Over 100 Met Police officers facing abuse claims are still working, new data reveals March 20, 2023 More than 100 Metropolitan Police officers facing probes into domestic or sexual abuse accusations are still working as normal, it has emerged. Of the 548 officers facing investigations over claims of domestic or sexual abuse or both, 144 of these officers are still doing their everyday duties, according to data obtained via a Freedom of [...]
UK hosts crunch talks on Putin ‘war crimes’ investigation March 20, 2023 International justice ministers are meeting in London to discuss support for the investigation into war crimes in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s arrest, accusing him of bearing personal responsibility for the abduction of children. It is the first arrest warrant to be issued against a [...]
Met Police short of 1,000 officers as force admits it faces an uphill battle to recruit quality candidates March 8, 2023 The Met Police is set to be short of more than 1,000 officers this year, the force has said, amid an ongoing crisis in public trust and confidence. Officer numbers will be down by around 1,060 less than the target strength of 34,490, the Met Police has told City Hall. It comes as new commissioner [...]
Three Brits arrested over £29m PPE fraud during Covid-19 February 8, 2023 The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested three Brits over claims they ran a fraudulent company that brokered $35m (£29m) worth of PPE procurement deals at the height of Covid-19. Investigators believe that one of the three individuals – a man in his 50s – set up a UK company with the sole purpose [...]
Robot laws: First barrister to use AI in Old Bailey murder trial urges government to push forward cutting edge tech February 7, 2023 The first barrister to use an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool in an Old Bailey murder trial has called on the UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to invest in the cutting edge technology. Sally Hobson, a criminal defence barrister at London chambers The 36 Group, told City A.M. AI tech has the potential to “save huge [...]
Balli Steel execs found guilty of £120m fraud at collapsed trading firm February 2, 2023 Two Balli Steel executives have been convicted of using forged documents to mislead banks into lending the bankrupt commodities trader $150m (£122m). A jury at Southwark Crown Court today found Balli Steel executives Melis Erda and Louise Worsell guilty on six counts of fraud. Worsell, the managing director of Balli’s UAE business, and Erda, group [...]
UK to ‘use all tools’ available to crack down on thousands of firms that missed property register deadline February 1, 2023 The UK government has vowed to “use all the tools” at its disposal to crack down on the thousands of overseas companies that have failed to report their beneficial owners with Companies House’s new property register. The government pledged to fine and prosecute the “oligarchs and non-compliant organisations” that missed yesterday’s deadline to declare their [...]
Financial crime: Anti-money laundering and crypto fines surge to £4bn in regulatory crackdown January 22, 2023 Anti-money laundering fines globally surged 53 per cent in 2022 while fines to crypto firms rose over 90 per cent as regulators cracked down on financial misconduct, data from Fenergo shows. In total, financial institutions were fined nearly $5bn (£4.04bn) in 2022. According to Fenergo’s financial crime policy manager Rory Doyle, the jump was linked [...]
Water company fined half-a-million pounds after raw sewage discharged into river for 23 HOURS straight killing 5,000 fish January 14, 2023 A water company has been fined more than half a million pounds after raw sewage was discharged into a river for 23 hours killing 5,000 fish, the Environment Agency said. Anglian Water pleaded guilty to a breach of permit and was ordered to pay a fine of £510,000, costs of £50,000 and a victim surcharge [...]
Exclusive: Surge in fraud and scams sends shivers through the City’s financial services space January 11, 2023 Close to half of Londoners believe the financial services industry is more vulnerable to fraud and scams than ever before. And for good reason. In fact, with fraud costing the UK £9.3bn a year, identity theft leaping 11 per cent to an all-time high in 2021 and, for the year ending September 2021, overall fraud was [...]