The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that two fraudulent individuals have been sentenced to 11 years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court, following a successful investigation and prosecution by the SFO. Andrew Nathaniel Skeene, 44, and Junie Conrad Omari Bowers, 45, were responsible for a fraudulent green investment scheme, Global Forestry Investments, which scammed approximately 2,000 investors out of their savings and pensions by encouraging investment into three fake Brazilian teak tree plantations, falsely claiming they would help protect the Amazon rainforest and support local communities. They collectively withdrew around £750,000 in cash and spent a further £2m.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that it has secured the conviction of former Ministry of Defence (MoD) official, Jeffrey Cook, for taking secret payments in exchange for commissioning work from offshore consultants. Investigators found that Cook had concealed payments and gifts totalling more than £70,000 while he was employed at the MoD. He also seconded to a defence contractor, called Paradigm which was owned by Airbus. It was found that between 2004 and 2008, Cook commissioned five reports for the MoD on its 'SANGCOM' project to provide military communications equipment and services to the Saudi Arabian National Guard. These reports examined topics including 'SANGCOM project activities', 'strategic considerations' and 'business strategy'. ME Consultants Ltd, registered in the Cayman Islands and where Cook held personal contacts, were paid £700,000 for this work, with at least 10% of this fee going directly back to Cook. He also received over £44,000 in cash and two cars worth over £30,000. Following his secondment, Cook left the MoD and joined the UK defence firm GPT Special Project Management Ltd, which was bought by Paradigm in 2007, as its Managing Director. GPT was prosecuted by the SFO as part of this case in 2021, when the company pleaded guilty to corruption and paid a penalty of almost £30m. Cook is scheduled to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 12 April 2024.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that it has secured the conviction of former investment manager, David Kennedy, for his part in a £100m investment fraud. Alongside Timothy Schools, Kennedy managed Axiom Legal Finance Fund and promised investors a secure return by offering loans to UK law firms that were pursuing no-win-no-fee cases. Kennedy has been found to have used investor money to fund thousands of high risk cases that were not independently vetted and often failed at court. He also diverted over £5.8m from Axiom and hid the funds in offshore bank accounts and complex trusts to pay for items for his own benefit. He is scheduled to be sentenced on 8 May 2024.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that it has secured the conviction of Osmond and Osmond Solicitors Ltd co-founder, William Osmond, who disclosed confidential information about an SFO money laundering investigation and forged legal documents in an attempt to mislead investigators. In 2018, the SFO had approached Osmond after it launched an investigation into Osmond’s client, James Redding Ramsay who had paid £4m toward the purchase of a Mayfair property. Osmond immediately afterwards informed Ramsay and discussed the investigation with Ramsay over the next five months. During the course of the investigation, Osmond also provided the SFO with a forged’ Letter of Engagement’ which was used to move funds for Ramsay. The SFO searched Osmond’s office in 2019 to find notes on the discussions he had with Ramsay about the investigation and the forget letter. Osmond will be sentenced on 30 November 2023 at the Old Bailey.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported the convictions of three people in connection with a $500m trade finance fraud. Five people were charged in connection with the fraud, including Nasser Alaghband, the former Director of Balli Group and CEO of Balli Steel, who pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading prior to the trial; Louise Worsell, the Managing Director of Balli Steel Middle East FZE, who was convicted on multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud; and Melis Erda, the Balli Group’s Treasurer and Member of the Balli Steel Executive Committee, who was convicted on multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud. David Spriddell, the former Finance Director of Balli Steel, was found not guilty of fraudulent trading in carrying on the business of Balli Group Plc and Balli Steel Plc with the intent to defraud creditors, while Vahid Alaghband, the former Director of Balli Group, faced charges of two counts of fraudulent trading and one count of conspiracy to defraud but was severed from this trial in November 2022. The three defendants convicted were found to have defrauded hundreds of investors by misrepresenting the security of their investments. The SFO was able to prove that the defendants had forged signatures on fake sales contracts and used false documents, including false bank statements and false loan agreements, to convince investors that their money was safe.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that six former Glencore employees appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court and were charged with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit Glencore's oil operations in West Africa. David Perez was charged for conspiring to make corrupt payments in Cameroon and the Ivory Coast and in relation to the falsification of invoices to Glencore’s London office. Alex Beard, Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield were also charged by the SFO. The six former employees have all been granted unconditional bail and are due to appear at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 8 October 2024.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that it has charged Marwan Chedid and George Salibi, former Petrofac senior executives, with bribery. SFO has alleged that between 2012 and 2018, Chedid and Salibi were involved in offering and paying over $US 30m to agents to influence the award of contracts worth approximately $US 3.3bn in Petrofac's favour. The contracts concerned oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates and included a contract related to the infrastructure and design of the Upper Zakum Field Development Project. Chedid and Salibi are to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on 19 February 2024.

The Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) investigation into the Raedex Consortium has advanced, with defendants Reginald Larry-Cole and Scott Martin entering not guilty pleas at Southwark Crown Court on 6 December 2024. The pair, charged with three counts of fraud each on 19 January 2024, are alleged to have been involved in fraudulent activities related to car leasing investment schemes operated by the Raedex Consortium between 2012 and 2021. The trial is scheduled to commence on 14 September 2026. The SFO continues to engage with investors and lessees, offering a secure investigation questionnaire for those wishing to provide information. Additionally, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme has initiated a claims process for those affected by the Buy 2 Let scheme.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported on changes concerning fraud referrals to the SFO. SFO has noted that from 28 October 2024, all fraud referrals (unless being made by companies or whistleblowers) are to be made to Action Fraud, online or via the call centre. The change will align the SFO with other 43 national police forces in England and Wales and the National Crime Agency and will allow effective agency coordination in response to new fraud risks.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has announced a potential breach of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Güralp Systems Ltd, which was finalised on 22 October 2019. The DPA, in which the company accepted charges of conspiracy to make corrupt payments and failure to prevent bribery, involved a payment of £2,069,861. On 21 November, the SFO informed the court of the suspected breach and requested a hearing at Southwark Crown Court (sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice) to take the matter forward. This development follows the conclusion of a related trial at Southwark Crown Court, where Dr Cansun Güralp, and Natalie Pearce were found not guilty on 20 December 2019, with Andrew Bell having been acquitted two days earlier.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that it has raided three properties and made four arrests in Merseyside and Greater Manchester as it continues to investigate Signature Group. The Signature Group was a business that attracted over a thousand UK and international investors in the redevelopment of iconic landmarks and historic buildings within the UK. The company went into administration with losses of up to £140m. This operation was supported by the National Crime Agency.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that it has made three arrests as part of its investigation into an £76m fraud involving luxury care homes. SFO, supported by the National Crime Agency, raided two sites in St Leonard’s, Dorset and Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire during its investigation into the Carlauren Group which collapsed into administration in 2019. The collapse of the Carlauren Group, a property developer, resulted in some of the elderly residents being required to vacate their homes and left over 600 investors out of pocket. SFO reported that the Carlauren Group purchased 23 properties, mostly former hotels, across the UK and offered an annual return of 10% on the investment in the renovation of these properties into high-end care homes. SFO found that nine of the properties were operational and some continued to be run as hotels. The Carlauren Group had also purchased a number of vehicles including two Lamborghinis, a Mclaren 570GT, a private jet and two yachts.