Tchenguiz judge says fraud agency needs more funding
A SENIOR judge said yesterday the Serious Fraud Office had failed to set out a “rather simple” case clearly during an investigation into the Tchenguiz brothers and called for better funding for the agency.
Judge John Thomas, who has already slated the agency for “sheer incompetence” in the case linked to the collapse of Iceland’s Kaupthing bank in 2008, told the High Court the agency had no excuse for its bungled investigation.
“There can’t be any excuse for that (not setting out facts clearly) … This is the story of almost anyone who gets themselves in a wrong position in the markets,” he said, while also calling for the office to be “properly financed”.