Fraud Intelligence

Large organisations with a UK nexus are able, since 6 November, to refer to official guidance when developing "reasonable measures" to defend against a potential criminal charge of failure to prevent fraud intended to benefit them by their employees, agents, subsidiaries or other "associated persons" under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The offence takes effect nine months from publication of the guidance - in fact, nearer ten - on 1 September 2025.

Ukraine has, for the first time, paid two whistleblowers who used a long-standing tip-off channel designed to crack down on corruption.

Light sentencing for serious offending is a complaint across many parts of the UK criminal justice system and nowhere more than in fraud, but do the figures bear this out? Keith Nuthall looks at the evidence and draws comparison with the United States.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in collaboration with the City of London Police has issued new guidance about where to report fraud allegations, writes Katie Wheatley of Bindmans. Under the new guidance all fraud referrals - unless from companies or whistleblowers - should be made to Action Fraud. Reports of allegations of serious corruption or bribery, or from whistleblowers or persons reporting on behalf of a corporate entity, should be made to the SFO. The SFO's website states that whistleblowers are current or former workers of the organisation they are reporting.

An Italian-led investigation, supported by the European Union (EU) prosecutor and judiciary agency Eurojust, has smashed a network responsible for forging and selling 2,000 pieces of twentieth century and contemporary art, including works by Banksy, Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.

Promoting closer liaison between OLAF, the European Union's (EU) anti-fraud office, and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) will be a key priority of the new EU budget, anti-fraud and public administration commissioner once he takes office, probably on 1 December.

USA government human rights investigators and human trafficking victims in Myanmar say that a lawless town on the border with Thailand has become a forced labour hub, where kidnap victims must take part in phone or cyber scams, or face violence, torture, even death. Poppy James, reports from Shwe Kokko, Myanmar.

Given that fraud and insolvency scenarios often coincide, civil claims can provide a comparatively timely and cost-effective route to achieve justice for victims. Frances Coulson of Wedlake Bell outlines the extensive powers available under the law of England and Wales to assist creditors.

Time is of the essence when seeking to locate and recover the fruits of fraud before they can be squirrelled away; and sealing orders, gagging injunctions and anonymisation orders mitigate the risk of bad actors being put on notice. Martin Kenney of Martin Kenney & Co Solicitors (MKS) unpacks these underused tools in the asset recovery toolkit, as applied in the United States, England and Wales.

The new era of financial crime powered by artificial intelligence was a recurring theme at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) UK Chapter Conference on 13 November. Esther Martin reports on advice for pitting technology, governed by human wisdom, against it.

Whistleblower incentives developed in the USA should be introduced in the UK to help deter and detect corporate fraud, says the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).