Law and the Justice System

Claire Hills, a Director at bennettbrooks, outlines the requirements of the new economic crime legislation.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) was granted Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. There has been widespread press coverage on some of the other ECCTA provisions such as new Companies House enforcement powers (along with increased filing fees to pay for them), verification of directors’ identity and increased accounts disclosure. However, it also contains a new groundbreaking measure: ‘the Failure to Prevent Economic Crime” criminal offence which will render large companies liable for fraud committed by their employees where the fraud was committed with the intention of benefitting the organisation or those to whom it provides services. We consider the offence and implications for businesses.

Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences

Part 1: Disclosure - April 2024

1. In October 2023, the Home Secretary appointed me to undertake an Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences. I was asked to undertake that review in two parts and since that time I have been focussed on Part 1 which relates to the criminal disclosure regime.

2. In these preliminary findings, I shall outline the themes that have emerged from the evidence gathering phase of my review, and which I intend to develop in my final report to the Home Secretary. In addition, I have begun the process of seeking to identify measures which might improve the way in which the disclosure process operates.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will crack down on online scams and make platforms that make money from advertising financial products more accountable, financial services minister John Glen said on Wednesday.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/finance/news/britain-crack-down-online-fraud-163708935.html

Former subpostmaster and campaigner Alan Bates has said he will pursue private prosecutions against those responsible for the Horizon IT scandal if the inquiry does not pass a file to prosecuting authorities.

The inquiry resumed this week with Mr Bates giving evidence and on Friday he told the Times he would be willing to crowdfund criminal action against those responsible at the Post Office.

Six years on from the UK government introducing Unexplained Wealth Orders as a new law enforcement tool to combat ‘dirty money’, Commercial Litigation and Fraud partner Pia Mithani spoke to City AM’s Ben Lucas about their relative lack of use by the UK’s authorities to date.

https://www.stewartslaw.com/news/why-are-uwos-so-unpopular/

A woman who stole money from online fundraisers, set up after the toppling of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol four years ago, took around £70,000 in total, police say.

Now "penniless", a court has ordered Xahra Saleem to pay back a nominal amount of £1.

Police have obtained a Confiscation Order under the Proceeds of Crime Act against Saleem, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years last October after pleading guilty to one count of fraud.

The UK must use new laws to ensure online platforms have a legal responsibility to protect users from an “avalanche” of scams, a coalition of groups has warned the Government.

The 17 consumer and business groups and authorities have urged the Government to include scams in its proposed Online Safety Bill – which could be announced in next week’s Queen’s Speech – to protect consumers from their “devastating financial and emotional harm”.

More than £20,000 in ill-gotten gains will be repaid by the director of a Wolverhampton letting agency who was jailed for defrauding tenants.

After a trial Bhavander Singh Sanghera, of Walsall, was sentenced to 28 months in jail for fraud and banned from acting as a director of any business in 2022 for eight years relating to the operations of his property company.

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2024/04/03/letting-agency-boss-must-repay-almost-22k-for-fraudulent-actions/

A company accountant jailed for defrauding hundreds of thousands of pounds from his employer over three years has been ordered to hand over £77,000 under proceeds of crime legislation.

John Brown, 61, of Cumbernauld, was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment in March 2023 for defrauding £275,000 from Farmfoods Ltd over a three-year period between 2015 and 2018

International ministers are set to agree new action to take down fraudsters as the first ever Global Fraud Summit begins today.

Home Secretary James Cleverly will discuss the threats posed by organised crime groups, and how global law enforcement can tackle it, during a series of meetings with senior ministers and representatives from the G7, Five Eyes, Singapore and South Korea, at Lancaster House.