SFO bags top judge on staff
A SENIOR former judge has been hired among a handful of noteworthy new recruits at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as the fraught watchdog attempts to reverse its recent fortunes.
His Honour Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC has signed on for a two-year role advising David Green QC, the FSO’s new director, for an annual salary of £100,000.
Green, who is just three months into the job, said the new appointments are part of a direct response to the recent reputational blights plaguing the SFO, which include a string of mistakes in its handling the Tchenguiz brothers investigation.
“This is a unique appointment – it is the first time a prosecutor has appointed a very senior judge as part of its top management,” an SFO spokesperson told City A.M. “It will help us bring quality assessments to the cases we work on.”
The other recruits – announced yesterday to SFO staff – include new general counsel Alun Milford, currently the CPS’ head of organised crime, and incoming head of policy Kristin Jones, formerly employed by the Attorney General.
The SFO will also create four new casework divisions led by senior civil servants including Matthew Wagstaff, head of a fiscal fraud division at the CPS, and Satnam Tumani, already on the SFO staff as its head of anti-corruption. The other two positions are still to be filled.