Decision to prosecute

Trading standards prosecutions round-up—16 March 2026

A round-up of the latest trading standards prosecutions, including a man jailed for forging fake qualifications and a woman given community order for cosmetic procedure fraud.

INTERPOL publishes 2026 Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment

INTERPOL has published its 2026 Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment report, highlighting that fraud is increasingly central to polycriminality and intersects with organised crime, human trafficking and cybercrime. The report’s key findings include : (1) AI-enhanced fraud is estimated to be 4.5 times more profitable than traditional methods, with ‘agentic AI’ systems capable of autonomously executing entire fraud campaigns; (2) global financial fraud losses were estimated at USD 442 billion in 2025; (3) scam centres have expanded globally and often involve large numbers of individuals, including trafficked persons forced to carry out online fraud; (4) criminal networks are strengthening cooperation and working with specialised money-laundering groups to scale global operations and (5) terrorist groups in parts of Africa are using fraud schemes, including cryptocurrency-based scams, as a source of funding.

Defra announces plans to extend PACE and POCA powers to EA officers

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced plans to extend powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) to Environment Agency (EA) enforcement officers to strengthen enforcement against waste crime. The proposed reforms enable officers to intervene earlier in criminal activities and disrupt the financial activities that support waste crime groups. Defra has also confirmed that a new Waste Crime Action Plan will be published soon to outline the government's comprehensive approach to tackling these crimes and under separate proposed legislation, waste criminals could face up to five years for illegal transportation and dealing of waste.

Insolvency Service reports confiscation order against Bounce Back Loan fraudster

The Insolvency Service has reported that Shohid Ahmed has been ordered to pay £123,000 under a confiscation order, together with £6,000 in costs, following an investigation into fraudulent Bounce Back Loan applications. Ahmed fraudulently obtained £100,000 through three loan applications made in 2020 on behalf of Red Square Restaurants Limited, which were submitted in his wife’s name. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Bradford Crown Court in May 2025 after pleading guilty to offences under the Fraud Act 2006, Companies Act 2006 and Insolvency Act 1986. Ahmed filed false documents with Companies House naming an innocent woman as the company director and produced fabricated invoices claiming that £15,000 of the loan funds were used for restaurant refurbishment. He has three months to pay the confiscation order or face an additional 15 months’ imprisonment, although the payment obligation will remain regardless of any further custodial sentence.