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 [...]
GFG tycoon Sanjeev Gupta vows to fight UK steelmaker’s bankruptcy and save hundreds of jobs February 23, 2023 Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance has vowed to “fight” a New York investment fund’s bid to plunge one of its major customers into bankruptcy after fully acquiring the firm earlier this month. GFG is seeking to block West Midlands steel products maker Aartee Bright Bar from collapsing into insolvency after the manufacturer’s main creditor, FGI, decided [...]
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 [...]
Dentons poaches top SFO lawyer in push to bolster investigations team January 5, 2023 Dentons has poached one of the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO’s) top lawyers, as it pushes forwards with efforts to bolster its ranks with public sector hires. SFO deputy general counsel Rebecca Dix will take on a new position at Dentons’ London office, switching from the public sector crime agency to the fourth largest law firm [...]
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 [...]
Our climate guilt is a weapon for fraudsters promising to help us help the environment November 25, 2022 Fraud moves with the times. This summer we experienced more sweltering heatwaves and droughts. Coupled with this month’s Cop27, climate change is again a regular feature in our daily news intake. While others saw a rise in phishing attempts and cost-of-living based scams, we’ve seen climate fraud cases grow exponentially, now involving millions of pounds [...]
Gupta’s UK steel business strikes nears deal with creditors to stave off bankruptcy November 15, 2022 The UK arm of Sanjeev Gupta’s steel empire has struck a preliminary deal with major creditors that could let it stave off insolvency proceedings by restructuring its debts. Liberty Steel Group has reached a preliminary agreement with Credit Suisse Asset Management, Greensill Capital, and Greensill Bank to restructure its debts, the steelmaker said in a [...]
Wood Group forks out £97m to settle historic litigation case November 14, 2022 John Wood Group and its energy subsidiary Amec Foster Wheeler Energy are to fork out $115m (£97.6m) to settle a legacy litigation case with US energy services provider Enterprise. All parties have agreed on the settlement fee, which will be paid in one instalment within the next week, Wood Group announced this morning. Enterprise filed [...]