The UK’s Serious Fraud Office is gradually lengthening the role of prosecutions for overseas corruption with an important new prosecution, and clear indications that more are in the pipeline. The new case involves Smith & Ouzman, a printing company, and four individuals connected with it. The company and some of its officers are accused of […]

The Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) brought fraud related charges against three directors and one employee of Sustainable AgroEnergy plc (“SAE”), a subsidiary of Sustainable Growth Group (“SSG”) on 14 August 2013, as part of a wider investigation into an alleged £23 million “bio fuel” investment fraud. Three of the individuals have also been charged under […]

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged four men connected to Sustainable AgroEnergy plc (SAE) with offences of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to furnish false information in breach of section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. The four men, which include the former Director and Chief Commercial Officer of […]

The legislative framework for DPAs can now be found in Schedule 17 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 passed on 25 April 2013. Whilst a date has yet to be set for these provisions to come into force, the Serious Fraud Office expects DPAs to be available from February 2014. To this end, three […]

SEC adopts Dodd-Frank rule requiring disclosure of payments to governments by US resource extraction issuers 11 Sep 2012 The SEC has recently adopted (http://sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-164.htm?intEmailHistoryId=778390&intEmailListId=133&intEmailId=60099&intExternalSystemId=1) rules requiring all US-listed firms engaged in the energy sector to file a supplementary form with them disclosing information relating to certain payments made to either the US or a foreign […]

Former Securency executive avoids jail in bribery-related case 11 Sep 2012 David John Ellery, former chief financial officer of Securency, has pleaded guilty to false accounting for his role in inaccurately recording overseas payments to an agent engaged by Securency to obtain banknote contracts in Malaysia. Justice Hollingworth, passing sentence in the Victoria Supreme Court, […]

Pfizer reaches settlement with SEC 11 Sep 2012 The United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced (http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-152.htm?intEmailHistoryId=778390&intEmailListId=133&intEmailId=60099&intExternalSystemId=1) that it has reached a settlement with Pfizer Inc and a related company, Wyeth LLC for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC alleged that the employees and agents of Pfizer’s subsidiaries in […]

Men convicted in £10m fraud trial 11 Sep 2012 The SFO has announced (http://www.sfo.gov.uk/press-room/latest-press-releases/press-releases-2012/guilty-verdicts-in-10m-fraud-trial.aspx?intEmailHistoryId=778390&intEmailListId=133&intEmailId=60099&intExternalSystemId=1) that two people have been convicted in relation to a fraud that targeted UK investors and expatriates in Majorca. Another man pleaded guilty prior to trial. The men operated a Ponzi scheme whereby investors’ money was diverted to support their own […]