The Attorney General, the Rt. Hon. Lord Goldsmith QC, has appointed Robert Wardle to be Director of the Serious Fraud Office. Mr. Wardle will succeed the present Director, Rosalind Wright, on 21 April 2003.
Mr. Wardle is currently an Assistant Director at the Serious Fraud Office.
Notes to Editors
- The Serious Fraud Office was created under the Criminal Justice Act 1987 to investigate and prosecute the most serious and complex cases of fraud. It commenced operation in April 1988. It is an independent government department headed by the Director under the superintendence of the Attorney General.
- The SFO has prosecuted 249 trials involving 534 defendants of whom 377 have been convicted, which represents a conviction rate by defendant of 71%. Convictions have been gained in 84 % of the cases prosecuted by the SFO.
- The appointment of the Director of the Serious Fraud Office is made by the Attorney General under section 1 (1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987.
- A biography of Robert Wardle is attached.
ROBERT WARDLE, DIRECTOR DESIGNATE, SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Robert Wardle is a solicitor who joined the Serious Fraud Office in 1988 on its foundation. After articles and a spell as an assistant solicitor in private practice, he worked as a prosecuting solicitor in Essex and Cambridgeshire and then for the Crown Prosecution Service.
At the SFO he has worked as a Case Controller and was made Assistant Director in 1992. From 1996 to 2000 he was head of the policy division with responsibility for liaison with Whitehall, regulators, the legal professions and the police, and for dealing with all policy matters including proposed legislation.
Since October 2000 he has moved to an operational division with overall responsibility for about thirty cases, and for vetting cases referred to the Serious Fraud Office. He has been the senior SFO lawyer responsible for the Guinness, Polly Peck and CWS cases.
He is 51-years old.
