New SFO director starts job April 22, 2012 David Green QC begins his new role as the director of the Serious Fraud Office today, following Richard Alderman’s retirement. Green, a barrister with 25 years’ experience in criminal law, was until last year director of the central fraud group of the Criminal Prosecution Service. While his move to the SFO had been expected since [...]
SFO’s chief executive quits just days before new director arrives April 18, 2012 THE Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has lost its chief executive just days before a new director takes the reins. Phillippa Williamson, who was second in command to outgoing director Richard Alderman, has stepped down suddenly and given no reason for the departure. It comes as new director David Green takes up his role next week. [...]
Judge slams SFO incompetence in Tchenguiz case April 4, 2012 THE Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was yesterday denied more time to prepare for a trial over its handling of the 2011 arrests of real estate investors Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz. The high court judge, who ruled the trial should go ahead on 22 May as planned, criticised the SFO for its confession that it did [...]
Ex-chief of JJB charged amid £1m fraud case April 4, 2012 THE former chief executive of JJB Sports, Chris Ronnie, has been charged after a two and a half year probe into an alleged £1m fraud. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday announced that Ronnie has been charged with three fraud offences, two counts of money laundering and two counts of furnishing false information, in relation to contracts [...]
BAE Systems to buy textbooks for Tanzania in SFO settlement March 15, 2012 DEFENCE giant BAE Systems agreed yesterday to pay almost £30m towards education projects in Tanzania as part of a settlement with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The payment is linked to a fine handed to BAE in late 2010 after the company admitted it had failed to keep adequate accounting records in relation to a [...]
NICK CANDY JOINS THE PARTY SET AT CANNES March 8, 2012 AFTER a subdued and more sombre start to MIPIM, the annual property conference in Cannes, the mood began to pick up on Wednesday, the second and busiest day, as the weather brightened and investors began to talk more positively, albeit cautiously about the outlook for real estate this year. The sun graced Cannes in time [...]
Ex-Tchenguiz property firm in £62m deal March 6, 2012 THE property management company run by Vincent Tchenguiz before he became embroiled in a fraud probe has been rescued from administration in a £62m deal. Peverel has been taken over by private equity houses Chamonix and Electra Partners, who said they would secure more than 4,200 jobs. It comes nearly a year after the holding [...]
Tchenguiz brothers set for new battle with SFO February 22, 2012 PROPERTY tycoons Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz have won the right for a judicial review of the circumstances surrounding their arrests last year during a Serious Fraud Office probe. Yesterday the embattled SFO did not contest High Court applications by the brothers, who were held in March as part of the SFO inquiry into the collapse [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES FOREIGN OFFICE PLANS £240M WORTH OF PROPERTY SALES The Foreign Office has drawn up plans to sell hundreds of embassies and homes worth nearly a quarter of a billion pounds as it increases its presence in fast-growing countries such as China and Brazil. The Foreign Office has hired property agents CBRE and DTZ [...]
Grieve orders probe into SFO February 14, 2012 MINISTERS have ordered an inquiry into the running of the Serious Fraud Office following the collapse of a string of major investigations. The review, which will begin next month, will be carried out by the head of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and will look at SFO cases and how it chooses investigations. Dominic Grieve, [...]