Crime and Policing

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is appealing for information from the public in relation to a complex timeshare services scheme it believes was operated by an organised crime network.

This new SFO investigation is being announced after it intercepted suspected ongoing criminal activity.

In August, the SFO arrested a key suspect at Manchester Airport and searched his home address, going on to conduct four arrests of suspected accomplices and conduct three raids of properties across England the following month. The SFO was assisted by the National Crime Agency, Greater Manchester Police and Hertfordshire Constabulary in these operations.

It is suspected the companies cold called members of the public offering exit and/or compensation from timeshare or holiday clubs for an upfront fee between January 2018 and September 2024. No services are understood to have ever been provided in most cases.

People who purchased these services are then believed to have been contacted again and pressured into paying another upfront fee to recover their money on the basis that it was fraudulent.

Dr Gerald Martin Smith, currently in prison for Covid loan fraud, has been imprisoned for an additional 13 months for obstructing the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) from seizing his properties on behalf of the taxpayer.

The SFO uncovered that Smith sought to obstruct the confiscation of a flat by arranging for an acquaintance, London-based ophthalmologist Dr Robert Morris, to transfer ownership of his Bloomsbury property to a British Virgin Island’s company called Minardi Investments Ltd that Smith secretly controlled.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/convicted-fraudster-handed-fifth-prison-sentence

New asset confiscation enforcement team and upgrade to SFO’s disclosure technology outlined in the budget in a bid to crackdown on fraud says Attorney General.

• Serious Fraud Office to receive additional funding to create a new team to improve ability to seize assets and returns to taxpayers and upgrade disclosure capabilities
• Additional funding will be provided to make improvements to SFO’s case management system

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fraud-crackdown-as-government-provides-funding-to-sfo

A new partnership has been announced to recruit, train and develop exceptional new detectives, dedicated to protecting the nation from economic crime – including fraud and cybercrime.

This new stream of Police Now’s National Detective Programme will pilot in March 2025 in the City of London Police, the national lead police force for this specialist area of policing.

The Serious Fraud Office is working with City of London police to make it easier for victims to report fraud.

From Monday 28th October 2024, all fraud referrals – unless from companies or whistleblowers – should be made to Action Fraud, either online at www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime or via the call centre on 0300 123 2040.

This change brings us in line with all 43 national police forces in England and Wales and the National Crime Agency, supporting strong coordination between agencies to emerging fraud threats and building a better picture of fraud across the country.

Pete O’Doherty is set to be the new Commissioner of City of London Police following a meeting of the Court of Common Council at Guildhall on Thursday (October 10).

The appointment, which is subject to Royal Assent, will see him become the 17th Commissioner at City of London Police.

Mr O’Doherty has served as T/Commissioner of the City Police since October 2023, leading the force in the absence of previous Commissioner, Angela McLaren, who retired from her post on medical grounds in June.

The former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police was appointed as the director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) one year ago today. So how has Nick Ephgrave first year gone at the anti-fraud agency?

Before he stepped foot into his office, lawyers were telling City A.M., that he has a lot of work ahead of him on rebuilding the SFO’s reputation after a slew of failures over the years.

He took the leadership position over from Lisa Osofsky – the director that oversaw a number of these errors.

Tijs Broeke, Chair of the City of London Police Authority Board, has called for every police officer to be trained in providing advice and support to victims of fraud.

Speaking at the City of London Police Authority Board Dinner where police, business leaders, and security personnel attended, Mr Broeke said, “If local police officers don’t know how to deal with the highest volume crime type in the country, we must ask ourselves how can a victim who has just lost £100 through courier fraud feel supported?”

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today executed a search warrant and seized 12 potentially luxury watches at a home in Dorset as part of a proceeds of crime investigation, related to a suspected £76 million care home fraud.

SFO officers, with support from Dorset Police, attended a home in Dorset where they recovered watches branded as Patek Philippe, Rolex and Hublot, worth over £500,000 if authentic.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) should be replaced with a new body dedicated to combating economic crime, a new paper by think tank Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has argued.

The paper, which was focused on the UK anti-fraud agency, concluded that after “series of institutional failures” it should be replaced.