Ex-Barclays executives ‘made secret Qatar payments to avoid government bailout’, court told January 23, 2019 The ex-boss of Barclays and three former executives were accused today of committing fraud to avoid a government bailout at the height of the financial crisis. The case, filed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), says senior Barclays employees made secret payments to Qatar in exchange for substantial investment in the bank, in order to avoid [...]
Charges dropped against former Tesco executive Carl Rogberg in fraud trial January 23, 2019 The case against the third defendant in the Tesco fraud trial Carl Rogberg has been dropped today. Tesco executive Rogberg, 52, a former finance director at the supermarket giant, was charged with fraud, alongside fellow executives Chris Bush and John Scouler after a hole was found in Tesco’s accounts in 2014, wiping £1.5bn from its [...]
Euribor traders gamed the financial system for personal gain, court told January 15, 2019 Three former Barclays employees who are on trial for allegedly rigging the Euribor interest rate were part of an “elite” group of traders who gamed the financial system for personal gain, a court has heard. James Waddington QC, representing the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), told Southwark Crown Court that Sisse Bohart, 41, Carlo Palombo, 40, [...]
Acacia fined for environmental breaches in Tanzania amid ongoing spat January 10, 2019 Acacia Mining has been hit with a 300m Tanzanian shilling fine (£102,000) two days after the country appointed a new mining minister. Authorities demanded payment after the FTSE 250 listed company allegedly broke environmental laws. However, Acacia said it had not received any details to support the allegations. The fairly small fine pales into insignificance [...]
SFO scales back probe into Rolls-Royce January 7, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped its investigation into a number of individuals associated with British engineering giant Rolls-Royce. Sky News originally reported that a number of people who were suspects in the SFO's investigation have been informed that they are no longer under investigation. Rolls-Royce entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the SFO [...]
Former Barclays bosses face trial over financial crisis-era deals with Qatar January 6, 2019 Four of Barclays' most senior bankers will appear in court tomorrow on charges relating to a rescue package the bank secured from Qatar at the height of the financial crisis. Former Barclays chief executive John Varley will stand trial alongside former senior executives Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath over funding from Qatari investors that allowed the [...]
SFO tells former Barclays trader convicted of Euribor rigging to pay £77,000 confiscation order December 20, 2018 A former Barclays trader who was found guilty of manipulating the Euribor interest rate benchmark has been ordered to pay more than £77,000 or have an extra three years added to his sentence. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought its case against Philippe Moryoussef in 2015, has ordered the former trader to pay a confiscation order [...]
SFO director Lisa Osofsky wants agency to crack down on ‘corporate big boys’ December 18, 2018 The director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said she wants the agency to be able to go after the "corporate big boys" who typically evade prosecution for economic crime and fraud. Ex-FBI lawyer turned SFO director Lisa Osofsky told the Justice Select Committee that senior individuals within large corporate organisations were not being [...]
Acacia shares drop amid reports of fraud office probe December 17, 2018 Shares in Acacia Mining dropped earlier amid reports that the Serious Fraud Office is looking into the company’s affairs in Tanzania. The London-listed miner fell 3.76 per cent to 185.45 after the Wall Street Journal claimed an SFO investigation will focus on claims that the company’s employees bribed Tanzanian government officials and consultants. The SFO [...]
Tesco fraud fiasco leaves new SFO boss with serious questions to answer December 6, 2018 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has had more ups and downs than Thomas Cook’s share price. When it scores a big success, like the near £500m deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Rolls-Royce, it gets cheered to the rafters, while failures such as the Tchenguiz brothers debacle sees it dubbed the Serious Farce Office by critics. [...]