Fight against corporate crime under threat
Reforms put forward by the latest SFO head threatens the fight against corporate financial crime
Investigators, lawyers and pressure groups have warned contentious reforms
mooted by Richard Alderman, newly appointed
Serious Fraud Office (SFO)
director, could threaten the fight against corporate financial crime.
According to one leading defence lawyer ‘the SFO is on a government-directed
path to destruction’, the Financial Times reports.
Fraud experts across the spectrum of prosecution and defence said they were
concerned the reforms would restrict the number of criminal cases the agency
brought against big companies and senior executives.
The criticisms are highlighted in a letter to Alderman this week by four
pressure groups, reflecting growing tensions in the area of financial criminal
law since the arrival in April of Alderman, a top tax investigator, who
previously had a low profile in the field of fraud and corruption.
Further reading:
SFO’s weaknesses detailed in De Grazia review
Exodus of SFO directors follow Wardle’s exit
Read
the Financial Times story