Tchenguiz to seek service station sales January 15, 2012 ROBERT Tchenguiz, the high-flying property entrepreneur, is looking to sell a portfolio of Welcome Break motorway service stations in a deal that could be worth more than £300m. Tchenguiz bought the sites eight years ago through his company, Rotch Property Group, for around £24.7m, with backing from Royal Bank of Scotland. He is understood to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SFO TARGETS CRIMINAL COMPANY DIVIDENDS The UK’s fraud investigator intends to confiscate shareholder dividends paid by companies convicted of criminal offences, after it won approval for a landmark court action. The Serious Fraud Office won a civil recovery order yesterday against the principal shareholder of a company that had admitted corruption. GROUPAMA TO [...]
SFO Tchenguiz blow December 22, 2011 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office was dealt a blow yesterday after it was forced to hand back documents seized in a dawn raid on Vincent Tchenguiz’s offices earlier this year, part of its probe into the collapse of Kaupthing. The embattled property tycoon yesterday declared the SFO had admitted the decision to issue search warrants “should [...]
Tchenguiz: SFO admits to errors in case December 22, 2011 VINCENT Tchenguiz’s war with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) may not be over but forcing the watchdog to admit to errors over his controversial arrest represents a major battle won. Vincent Tchenguiz was arrested in March over his exposure to the collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing but has always maintained his innocence. The Iranian-born property magnate [...]
TIMELINE: THE TCHENGUIZ CASE December 22, 2011 ● 9 March 2011 Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz are arrested by the SFO in connection with the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing. After questioning they are released without charge. ● ● 15 March Vincent Tchenguiz blames the SFO raid for his property Peverel Group entering administration, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch demands repayment of [...]
SFO boss calls for prosecutions December 4, 2011 Financial institutions and individuals should be subject to criminal prosecution for the kind of “reckless” behaviour that contributed to the financial crisis, the outgoing director of the Serious Fraud Office told the Sunday Telegraph. Richard Alderman said: “What I am thinking of is some kind of offence of being involved with recklessly running or being [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 17, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES AUCTION OF ICELAND FOODS BESET BY DELAYS The auction of Iceland Foods, the frozen food retailer, is facing unexpected delays, with second-round bids now not expected to be lodged until the new year. Work on second-round bids for Iceland Foods – put on the block in May by its majority Icelandic owners with [...]
Fear of delay over Olympus probe in UK November 16, 2011 BRITAIN faces a legal battle of more than a year if it tries to force Japanese executives of Olympus to go on trial in this country. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened an investigation into payments made by the camera firm and is working with the FBI and the US government, City A.M. understands. [...]
SFO launches probe into Olympus November 16, 2011 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a formal investigation into more than $1bn (£634.3m) of obscure payments and acquisitions made by Japan’s Olympus Corp., a source familiar with the matter said. The source declined to be named, and the SFO did not provide an immediate comment. However, leading lawyers had expected the SFO to [...]
SFO: help us to unmask fraud November 1, 2011 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday unveiled a new service it hopes will “unmask fraud and bribery” in the City. SFO Confidential is an online whistle-blowing tool that allows City workers to anonymously tip off the watchdog to any activity they think may be suspect. The service, which also includes a telephone hotline, promises to [...]