Jul
29

Organised Crime Strategy unveiled

Ministers have pledged to crack down on organised crime by unveiling a new national strategy to tackle drug gangs and fraudsters.

As police forces struggle to implement drastic spending cuts, the Government wants to save money by combining the work of existing law enforcement agencies under the Organised Crime Strategy.

The proposals have been designed to co-ordinate a national approach to organised crime between government agencies, law enforcement and security and intelligence bodies.

The Government hopes that the strategy will reduce the cost of tackling organised crime in the UK, which currently stands at between £20 billion and £40 billion a year.

The "much tougher" approach to crime was announced as the Government prepares to roll out the National Crime Agency in 2013.

The agency will replace the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop). In addition, it will include the national cyber crime unit and cover border policing and economic crime.

Copyright Press Association 2011

Jul
28

£10m fraud case surveyor jailed

A Metropolitan Police officer's former wife has been given six years in prison over her part in a £10 million mortgage scam. Mary-Jane Rathie, a senior surveyor, had overvalued properties in exclusive parts of London in exchange for gifts of cars and cash, totalling £1 million. At the Old Bailey, Judge Timothy Pontius described the situation where someone with 43-year-old Rathie's work record was in the dock as tragic. Rathie, of Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, was convicted of five counts of fraud between May 2007 and June 2009, as well as one count of concealing criminal property. Her then-husband, 47-year-old David Rathie, of Cheshunt, Herts, who is with the central London traffic unit, was found not guilty over a charge of concealing criminal property. Copyright Press Association 2011
Jul
27

CIFAS warns of 2011 rise in fraud

A substantial rise in cases of recorded fraud was seen in the opening six months of the year, new figures show. According to CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, 111,504 cases of confirmed fraud occurred during this time, with identity theft accounting for nearly half of these. Compared with the final six months of 2010, 10% more fraud cases were witnessed. Bank account misuses made up 24% of confirmed frauds, with the number at its highest since 2009. Of these cases, one in 10 involved fraudsters illegally accessing the bank accounts of other people. CIFAS indicated that the greatest fraud risk involves accounts linked to plastic cards. A number of fraudulent bank account cases also involved the use of false or altered cheques. These accounted for over half of bank account fraud cases, but how many instances go under the radar or don't end up in the county courts or criminal law system ?. Copyright Press Association 2011
Jul
26

SFO takes action against publisher

A publisher is facing a civil recovery order of £11.2 million following an incident involving alleged bribery in a region of Africa.

According to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the allegations relate to the company's efforts to gain a contract to provide educational materials in Southern Sudan.

The civil recovery order was issued to Macmillan Publishers after the SFO took High Court Action against the firm.

Macmillan had raised concerns with the SFO in March 2010 with regards to payments an agent had made as part of an unsuccessful bidding process for an educational contract.

Commenting on the case, the fraud office indicated that the region's national government public tendering processes may be open to both corruption and the problem of improper relationships.

It added that revenue from unlawful sources may have been provided to Macmillan.

Copyright Press Association 2011

Jul
25

Coulson never ended security checks

The Prime Minister's former head of communications, Andy Coulson, never completed the Government's highest level of security checks, it has been revealed. The former News of the World editor, who is at the heart of the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed Fleet Street and Westminster, was only part way through Developed Vetting (DV), which means he would not have been able to access some top secret papers or attend certain high profile meetings. Former Number 10 communications chiefs Alastair Campbell and Michael Ellam, who worked for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown respectively, went through the process and David Cameron's current head of communications Craig Oliver is said to be going through it at the moment. The revelation was disclosed by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell in response to a letter from Labour frontbencher Ivan Lewis. Sir Gus said that DV is only necessary for people who require regular access to the highest classification material. He said it is a drawn out process, which requires many resources and should consequently be used only when there is a clear business requirement for doing so. Copyright Press Association 2011
Jul
22

Hospital to review doctor’s notes

A Guildford hospital is to carry out a full review of notes made by one of its consultant paediatricians, a charity has said. The Royal Surrey County Hospital is to look at notes made by epilepsy specialist Dr Nic Driver over the last nine years, according to the Epilepsy Society. It is thought the review is being carried out after concerns from a fellow healthcare professional. Dr Driver has been excluded from seeing patients while the review is carried out, the charity said. A spokeswoman for the Epilepsy Society said it could not comment further on the case as it was not "wholly informed of the facts". The General Medical Council has been made aware of the review but will not be carrying it out, the charity said. Often these type of potential medical negligence claims require legal aid funding and are only uncovered due to whistleblowing. Copyright Press Association 2011
Jul
21

Financial adviser jailed for theft

A Lloyds TSB financial adviser has been jailed for stealing almost £140,000 from customers and a school where he was a governor. Gloucester Crown Court heard that Andrew Bartlett, 48, "borrowed" £138,500 to fund a venture in property development. The five-year scam came to light following an internal bank investigation of the financial affairs of one of Bartlett's clients. The father-of-four, who was sent to prison for 18 months, had originally told police the theft had involved only the one client, before it was discovered he had been taking money from two customers and a secondary school. The court was told that Bartlett had been allowed control over the funds he managed for the clients, allowing him the means to carry out the deception. Copyright Press Association 2011
Jul
20

Yates defends Wallis appointment

Former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates has clashed with the force's current Director of Public Affairs over the appointment of Neil Wallis.

Dick Fedorcio accepted that he had signed off the contract for Mr Wallis's employment, but insisted that he had acted on the assurances of Mr Yates.

Mr Fedorcio told the Home Affairs Select Committee that Mr Yates said there was no potential for embarrassment in appointing Mr Wallis.

Mr Fedorcio added that he had "accepted the integrity of Mr Yates" over the issue.

When challenged by committee chairman Keith Vaz over Mr Fedorcio's evidence, Mr Yates insisted that his claims were "slightly over-egging the pudding, to put it mildly".

He said that he had not done "due diligence in the due diligence sense" but had asked Mr Fedorcio for assurances that there was nothing in the material that Nick Davies was chasing that would embarrass any of the parties concerned.

Copyright Press Association 2011

Jul
19

MP demands SFO News Corp probe

Requests for an investigation into the activities of News Corp are set to be weighed up by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), it has been confirmed.

The SFO revealed that it is currently taking into account a request made by Labour MP Tom Watson for an investigation relating to NOTW phone hacking victims' out-of-court deals.

Commenting on Mr Watson's letter to the anti-fraud body, a spokeswoman from the office said the SFO would be willing to collaborate with US authorities if they decided to go ahead with a News Corp-related investigation.

Channel 4 News reported that SFO director Richard Alderman was contacted by Mr Watson, with the MP asking for phone hacking victim payouts to be scrutinised in an investigation.

The Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East is concerned with the question of whether the payouts could have led to News International breaching company law.

Copyright Press Association 2011

Jul
18

Gambling addict jailed for fraud

An online gambling addict has been jailed after using his role within a bank to break the law and take money from the accounts of numerous elderly customers. James Finnigan, 42, from Twickenham in Surrey, was given a four-year jail term after pleading guilty to 13 counts of fraud at the Old Bailey. In total, these activities accounted for 43 transactions. Over a five-year period, Finnigan stole £616,000 which he then used to gamble at his home by playing online. The accounts of bank customers in their 80s and people who were deceased were targeted by Finnigan, who was then Twickenham Barclays Bank financial planning manager, with funds taken from 12 accounts. He had previously racked up credit card debts of £50,000 because of his gambling habits. The amounts being taken from people's accounts by Finnigan reached £252,000, after initially starting at £9,000. Copyright Press Association 2011
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