Category Archives: News Releases
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Nick Ephgrave QPM begins tenure as Director of the Serious Fraud Office
25th Sep 2023 | News ReleasesThe Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) new Director, Nick Ephgrave QPM, takes up his position today. In his first week, he will address the SFO’s staff at the agency’s headquarters in central London, and meet representatives from UK law enforcement agencies and international prosecuting authorities.
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SFO charges four individuals behind Patisserie Valerie collapse
13th Sep 2023 | News ReleasesThe Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today brought fraud charges against four individuals, including a former director, who oversaw the financial failure of a chain of almost 200 high street bakeries.
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SFO Chief Capability Officer delivers keynote speech at 2023 Cambridge Symposium
4th Sep 2023 | News ReleasesThe Serious Fraud Office’s Chief Capability Officer, Michelle Crotty, responsible for leading the SFO’s strategy, skills, resourcing and systems, delivered our keynote speech at this year’s Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime.
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Annual Report & Accounts 2022-23
18th Jul 2023 | News ReleasesThe Serious Fraud Office’s Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 2022-23. The financial statements and certain sections of the accountability report are audited by the National Audit Office before they are presented to Parliament. The report was laid in Parliament on 18 July 2023.
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SFO intercepts funds from sanctioned bank to return to international fraud victims
16th Jun 2023 | News ReleasesThe Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will recover over £500,000 for the victims of a worldwide email fraud, after freezing money bound for a sanctioned Lebanese bank and securing High Court approval to use the unique case to trial a new approach to victim reparation. The money was stolen from victims through a scam orchestrated by […]
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Serious Fraud Office charges former CEO and CFO of London Mining Plc with bribery
16th Jun 2023 | News ReleasesToday, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged London Mining Plc Chief Executive Officer Graeme Hossie, Chief Financial Officer Rachel Rhodes and international business consultant Ariel Armon with conspiring to make multiple corrupt payments to secure preferential treatment in Sierra Leone. London Mining Plc had operations in Brazil, China, Colombia, Greenland, Saudi […]
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Serious Fraud Office charges three directors with fraud for forestry investment in Costa Rica
14th Jun 2023 | News ReleasesToday, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged former company directors Stephen Greenaway, Paul Laver and Matthew Pickard with fraud in relation to a collapsed scheme where 3,500 UK investors lost millions of pounds. For over eight years, Ethical Forestry Ltd operated tree plantations in Costa Rica and sold investments, starting at £12,000, in fast-growing […]
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SFO charges luxury car dealer for withholding evidence
26th May 2023 | News ReleasesToday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged the self-styled multi-millionaire supercar salesman Thomas Hartley with withholding information from its ongoing fraud investigation. The SFO is currently investigating Raedex Consortium, a company that attracted thousands of investors in its car lease scheme over nine years, before it collapsed in 2021. As part […]
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Implementation Update – May 2023: Altman Review
24th May 2023 | News ReleasesIn April 2021, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) commissioned Brian Altman KC to conduct a review into our handling of R v Woods & Marshall. As of May 2023, we are on track to implement all the recommendations in full.
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SFO secures 10 month sentence for former London Capital & Finance Plc CEO
17th May 2023 | News ReleasesToday, at Southwark Crown Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) secured a 10 month sentence (suspended for two years) for Michael Thomson, former Chief Executive Officer of London Capital & Finance Plc (LCF), following his breaching of a restraint order imposed on his bank account. The SFO had frozen Mr Thomson’s assets as part of […]
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HMCPSI publishes report on SFO’s case progression
4th May 2023 | News ReleasesToday, a report by His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has been published into the SFO’s case progression. HMCPSI is responsible for inspecting the SFO and this report follows up on progress against its 2019 inspection.
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SFO secures sentences totalling over 13 years for executives behind $500m bank fraud
4th Apr 2023 | News ReleasesToday at Southwark Crown Court, Nasser Alaghband, the CEO of British steel trading company Balli Steel Plc, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, while two senior executives received sentences of over three years each.