Financial

Firms have urged the UK payments regulator to delay fraud reimbursement rules following growing criticism of the measures and the recent departure of the watchdog’s head.

In a letter on Monday, the Payments Association called on the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to delay measures due to force banks and other payment firms to reimburse victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud up to a limit of £415,000 per claim from October.

A fifth (20 per cent) of advisers do not have protective measures against fraud and scams in place, research from Opinium has revealed.

The research, which surveyed 200 financial advisers earlier this year, suggested this lack of measures could leave advisers at risk of an incident or an attack.

Five people who laundered over £1m proceeds of bogus computer service companies have been sentenced to nine and a half years imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court.

They laundered money which companies had conned from victims, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable.

Wen, 42, tried to buy properties in London, including a £23.5m seven-bedroom Hampstead mansion with a swimming pool and a £12.5m home with a cinema and gym.

A former Chinese takeaway worker found guilty of money laundering after police seized more than £3bn worth of Bitcoin has been jailed for more than six years.

https://news.sky.com/story/chinese-takeaway-worker-jian-wen-jailed-for-money-laundering-after-3bn-bitcoin-seizure-13132666

A Lancashire individual has been handed a six-year sentence for fraud over an unauthorised investment scheme, which caused "irrevocable damage" to its victims.

Guy Flintham had pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Southwark Crown Court on February 19.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has long attracted much comment and criticism on its approach to investigating fraud and misconduct within the financial services industry. There is a long history of the UK having a soft touch on white collar crime of this type. The FCA is seeking to change this and launched a consultation on 27 February 2024, say Wedlake Bell's partner Frances Coulson and paralegal Laura Brookes.

https://investment-international.com/News/is-uk-financial-conduct-authoritys-approach-to-fraud-investigations-fit-for-purpose/

Jonathan Denton, formerly of US law firm Locke Lord, was convicted of two frauds alongside more than a dozen other individuals.

The multi-year investigation interviewed witnesses from across the UK, Europe, America and the Far East, and examined bank records linked to dozens of individuals and companies, North Yorkshire Police said.

An individual has been sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for providing a forged document to Financial Conduct Authority investigators.

On May 7, Taheer Sardar pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court.

The defendant had been interviewed by the FCA as part of an investigation it was conducting into a boiler room fraud that had defrauded 120 investors of £1.3mn.

https://www.ftadviser.com/regulation/2024/05/13/individual-sentenced-over-forged-document-in-1-3mn-boiler-room-fraud/

AI fraud and deepfakes are identified as top challenges for UK banks, according to a new report.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, AI-generated fraud and deepfakes are emerging as primary concerns, according to Mitek Systems’ latest report, the Identity Intelligence Index 2024.

The study surveyed 1500 financial services risk and innovation professionals across the UK, the US, and Spain. Among the key findings, 76% of banks reported an escalation in the sophistication of fraud cases, reflecting the evolving nature of financial crime.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on 3 May it had secured the conviction of former investment manager David Kennedy for his part in a £100m investment fraud in which hundreds of people lost their savings, following a re-trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Kennedy and his business partner Timothy Schools managed the Cayman Island registered company Axiom Legal Finance Fund for over two years. They promised investors a secure return, by offering loans to UK law firms that were pursuing no-win-no-fee cases and where there was purportedly a high chance of success.