Fraud prosecutions fall after public sector cuts

The number of defendants being pursued for fraud, bribery and corruption by the Serious Fraud Office and the City of London Police has fallen by 17 percent from 11,261 in 2011 to 9,343 last year, despite an increase in the number of tip-offs to police and crime agencies.

Barry Vitou (pictured), a partner at Pinsent Masons and head of its global corporate crime team, said: “The sharp drop in the number of prosecutions does not mean that there are fewer criminals - rather, it is a stark reminder that law enforcement agencies are under-resourced and ill-equipped to deal with the scale of white-collar crime.”

He called on the next UK government to “prioritise increased financial support to the SFO and City of London Police” and said that there was a wider impact on the economy when police and crime agencies lose funding.

The number of tips given to national crime-reporting centre Action Fraud increased by 46 per cent year-on-year in June 2014, and the SFO received more than 2,000 reports of suspected white collar crime last year.

The Serious Fraud Office has previously applied to the UK Treasury for £19 million of additional funding in order to investigate the manipulation of Libor, Barclays’s arrangements with Qatar in 2008 when the bank was close to collapse, allegations of bribery and corruption at Rolls-Royce, and more.

Only the number of cybercrime prosecutions has bucked the trend by trebling to 45 last year.

However, Mr Vitou warned: “Cyber crime techniques are increasingly sophisticated and constantly changing; increased funding and training is needed if the authorities are to keep pace with the criminals’ continually evolving methods.”