UK’s Serious Fraud Office to face Kazakh miner ENRC in court as decade-long legal fight continues March 6, 2023 The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will today face Kazakhstani mining company ENRC in London’s High Court, as it continues its fight against the British government agency almost 10 years after it first launched an investigation into the former FTSE 100 firm. The SFO first launched its investigation into ENRC in April 2013 in relation [...]
Former Met police detective sues ex-City lawyer over ENRC hacking claims February 27, 2023 A former Metropolitan police officer has accused an ex-City lawyer of trying to hack his emails to steal information about Kazakh mining company ENRC. Former detective Cameron Findlay has claimed ex-Dechert partner Neil Gerrard orchestrated a campaign of ‘spear-phishing’ attacks against him during a court dispute surrounding the Kazakh firm, US court papers show. A [...]
UK agency looks to seize mortgage fraudster’s donation to Chelsea private school February 13, 2023 The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is seeking to seize a £92,500 donation given by a Mayfair property magnate who was convicted of fraud to his daughter’s private school. The fraud investigator is seeking permission from a London court to confiscate the money given to his daughter’s school by mortgage fraudster Achilleas Kallakis. The conman [...]
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 [...]
Serious Fraud Office: Osofsky backs government’s plan for new ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence January 25, 2023 The director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has backed plans for a new ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence, after government ministers today confirmed the offence would make its way on the statute books. SFO chief Lisa Osofsky said government plans to introduce a failure to prevent offence for fraud has the “potential to [...]
Glencore to pay £147m over Democratic Republic of Congo corruption claims December 5, 2022 Glencore has agreed to pay $180m (£147m) to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to settle “all present and future” lawsuits arising from the large-scale international bribery scandal currently facing the firm. In a statement, Glencore said the $180m deal acts to settle any existing or future claims relating to the corruption allegations surrounding [...]
Lisa Osofsky to step down as SFO director in August 2023 November 9, 2022 Lisa Osofsky is set to leave her position as director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in August 2023 after completing a five-year stint at the fraud investigation agency. Osofsky told staff she will serve her full tenure before leaving the agency, according to an internal message sent out by the SFO chief. In [...]
Glencore told to pay £281m over international bribery scandal November 3, 2022 A London judge today told a UK subsidiary of Glencore to pay a total sum of £281m over an international bribery scandal that saw its staff pay almost $29m (£25.6m) in bribes to officials in Africa. At a sentencing hearing today, Judge Peter Fraser said a “culture” of bribery was “endemic” within Glencore’s West Africa [...]
Glencore execs used private jets to fly cash bribes to Africa, court hears November 2, 2022 Glencore executives used private jets to fly millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Africa to boost their oil trading activities, a London Court heard today. Traders on Glencore’s London-based West Africa trading desk organised to have bribes, which were withdrawn from the commodity trader’s offices in Switzerland, flown to officials in Cameroon and [...]
Union to ballot 150,000 civil servants on plans for public sector strike September 26, 2022 The public sector workers’ union is set to ballot more than 150,000 civil servants on plans to strike over pay and working conditions. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said it is urging its members in 214 government departments to vote in favour of taking industrial action, after the UK government set out plans [...]