Fraud

The owner of a Highland golf club has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for stealing more than £150,000 in tax. Jon Wiggett, who owns Brahan Golf Club, submitted 13 false VAT repayment claims between 2014 and 2017.

Tom Nener highlights the importance of protecting your brand as criminals take advantage of the pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has provided a fertile platform for sophisticated counterfeiters, as highlighted in recent reports by cross-border law enforcement agencies Interpol and Europol.

There were no high-value fraud prosecutions in Scotland in the first half of this year, according to data from KPMG. The firm’s bi-annual Fraud Barometer measures fraud cases with losses of £100,000 or more reaching the UK courts. For the first time in the history of the report, zer

Judgment in a case concerning alleged fraud and torture will be handed down next week by the Supreme Court via video link. The appellant (Shagang) and the respondent (HNA) are both based in China. In August 2008, a charterparty was concluded between Shagang and Grand China Shipping Co Ltd. HNA provi

Scotland's student loans body used facial recognition technology to catch a fraudster who stole £5,500 in loans, The Times reports. The Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) used technology that is not even available to Police Scotland, which has placed a moratorium on its use amid human

There has been a drop in crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, according to Scotland's chief statistician. In figures released today that analyse the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, a 13 per cent drop in domestic abuse crimes was reported as compared with April

Andrew Phillips explores the potential abuses of the furlough scheme.  In their recent COVID-19 update, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) sought to assure us that they will continue to investigate suspected fraud, bribery and corruption, adapting ways of working where necessary to adhere to govern

Scammers are duping the public and businesses with counterfeit goods to profit from the panic and fear caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) has reported a spike in counterfeit crime along with cybercrime and fraud as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, wi

The value of major fraud cases going through the Scottish courts has declined, according to the latest data from KPMG’s Fraud Barometer, which analyses alleged fraud worth more than £100,000. Four cases were heard in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Paisley in the first half of 2019, down from nin

Back in March, my colleague Tom Stocker discussed the findings of a House of Lords select committee which reviewed the 2010 Bribery Act, and specifically how businesses self-report suspected cases of bribery and corruption. While describing the act as “international gold standard” with l

Taxpayers must foot the bill for a fail fraud prosecution brought by a millionaire solicitor, a judge ruled yesterday. Judge Phillip Matthews ordered that the public cover the legal costs of Ashok Patel, 68, of central London.

Research carried out as part of BDO LLP’s annual FraudTrack report shows that Scotland ranked as the fourth most defrauded region in the UK by value as fraud rose by 88 per cent from £16.2m in 2017 to £30.4m in 2018. Accountants and business advisers BDO discovered that while the n

A decision to prosecute a trainee solicitor for fraud even though she blew the whistle on her colleagues has been defended by officials. Emily Scott was struck from the roll by a disciplinary tribunal despite it acknowledging that she had exposed malpractice at the firm in north Lincolnshire and tha