Watchdog tells firms to go ‘above and beyond’ law to co-operate in investigations August 6, 2019 The fraud watchdog has told firms they will need to go “above and beyond what the law requires” if they want to co-operate with its investigations. Guidance of corporate co-operation released by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) states that firms need to be willing to identify any individuals suspected of wrongdoing “regardless of their seniority [...]
City Moves for 6 August – Who’s switching jobs at Accor, Citi and KPMG? August 6, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Accor, Citi and KPMG. Accor Accor has announced that Karelle Lamouche has been appointed chief commercial officer for Europe. In this newly created role, Karelle will lead Accor’s European commercial team with responsibility for driving the business revenue strategy for the company and its partners across all European markets. Karelle has [...]
Serious Fraud Office prosecutes just four money laundering cases since 2014 August 1, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has received 153 reports concerning an allegation of money laundering since 2014, but prosecuted just four cases. The SFO figures, which were a response to a freedom of information request by law firm Greenberg Traurig, show the SFO received 41 reports containing money laundering allegations in 2018 but did not [...]
SFO cuts spending on lawyers as conviction rate falls July 28, 2019 The serious fraud office’s (SFO) spending on staff and external counsel fell last year, while its conviction rate crumbled to just over 53 per cent. The figures, released in the SFO’s annual report, show spending on staff fell 2.4 per cent to £30.6m last year, with spending on external counsel dropping 5.7 per cent to [...]
Passport-maker De La Rue under investigation by fraud squad over suspected corruption July 23, 2019 Passport and banknote-maker De La Rue said today it is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over suspected corruption. De La Rue told the stock market this afternoon that the SFO had opened an investigation into the company and its associated persons in relation to suspected corruption in South Sudan. De La Rue’s [...]
Ex-Deutsche Bank exec acquitted in Euribor trial July 4, 2019 A former Deutsche Bank executive has been acquitted of helping to rig the Euribor benchmark interest rate during the financial crisis. Andreas Hauschild, a former managing director at the bank, was found not guilty on one count of conspiracy to defraud by a jury at Southwark Crown Court today. Read more: Ex-Barclay’s trader Philippe Moryoussef [...]
Deloitte fined £6.5m for role in Serco tagging scandal July 4, 2019 Big-Four auditor Deloitte was today fined £6.5m and “severely reprimanded” for its role in Serco’s electronic tag scandal. The Financial Reporting Council fine was reduced to £4.2m after the auditor admitted misconduct in connection to the scandal Serco yesterday agreed a deferred prosecution agreement with the Serious Fraud Office over three offences of fraud and [...]
Serco fined £19m for government tagging contract fraud July 3, 2019 Outsourcer Serco has agreed to pay a £19.2m fine to the Serious Fraud Office after it overcharged the government for a contract. The company will also cover the SFO’s £3.7m costs. It has already paid back the Ministry of Justice in a £70m settlement in 2013. Read more: Serco tried to merge with struggling Babcock [...]
Petrofac loses out on $10bn in contracts amid SFO probe June 25, 2019 A Serious Fraud Office investigation into Petrofac has made the company lose out on $10bn (£7.8bn) of contracts, its chief financial officer said today. Alastair Cochran said that a guilty please from its former head of sales, David Lufkin, came just as Petrofac was bidding for contracts. The oilfield servicer lost about $2bn to $3bn [...]
Police arrest fifth man in London Capital & Finance probe June 20, 2019 Police yesterday arrested millionaire businessman Paul Careless in connection with the collapse of mini-bond investment firm London Capital & Finance (LCF). He is the fifth person arrested as part of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into LCF’s failure. An SFO spokesperson said: “On 19 June 2019, search warrants were executed at several properties in [...]