News

Lisa Osofsky visits law enforcement partners in US

Between Monday 28th November and Friday 2nd December 2022, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) held talks with American law enforcement counterparts in New York and Washington D.C.

Implementation Update: Altman Review

In April 2021, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) commissioned Brian Altman KC to conduct a review into our handling of the R v Woods & Marshall prosecution. As of November 2022, ten out of 18 of the report’s recommendations have already been delivered. The SFO established a plan of work to implement all recommendations by the end of the financial year 2022/23 and we are on track to meet this objective.

Glencore to pay £280 million for ‘highly corrosive’ and ‘endemic’ corruption

Glencore Energy UK Ltd will pay £280,965,092.95 million (over 400 million USD) after an SFO investigation revealed it paid US $29 million in bribes.

Operations expert joins SFO executive team

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has announced that Abi Howarth will be joining the Executive Team as Chief Operating Officer.  

Harlequin resorts boss jailed for 12 years following SFO investigation

The man behind a £226 million fraud affecting thousands of British victims was today jailed at Southwark Crown Court for 12 years following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

New Economic Crime Bill includes plans to expand SFO’s investigative powers

Today saw the first reading of the Government’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. The Bill includes provisions to expand the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) section 2 powers, which the SFO uses to compel suspected criminals, financial institutions like banks and/or technology companies, to share information or documents in relation to a suspected crime.

SFO Director Lisa Osofsky gives keynote speech at Cambridge Symposium

Lisa Osofsky, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, was invited to deliver a keynote speech on the opening morning of the 39th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.

Investment manager behind £100 million no-win-no-fee fraud jailed for 14 years

Following a successful investigation and prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Timothy Schools, the investment manager who used millions of pounds of investors’ money to fund his luxury lifestyle, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, in a hearing at Southwark Crown Court today.

Fraudulent Caribbean resorts owner convicted after SFO investigation

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has successfully convicted the individual behind a £226 million fraud involving celebrity-endorsed luxury resorts in the Caribbean.

Convicted fraudster found to be in contempt of court

At the High Court today, Dr Gerald Martin Smith was held in contempt of court for breaching a restraint order that prevented him from spending or accessing his assets, except in limited circumstances. He admitted a total of three separate breaches and accepted the facts as presented at court today by the SFO. Smith was […]

Publication of Brian Altman QC and Sir David Calvert-Smith reviews

Today, comprehensive versions of the expected Brian Altman QC review into the collapse of the R v Woods and Marshall trial and Sir David Calvert-Smith’s review into the SFO’s handling of the Unaoil investigation, have been published.

Serious Fraud Office secures Glencore conviction on seven counts of international bribery

Glencore Energy (UK) Ltd has today been convicted on all charges of bribery brought against it by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).  At Southwark Crown Court, the company admitted to multiple counts of paying bribes to secure access to oil and generate illicit profit.