Law and the Justice System

A new report is calling for the establishment of a Fraud Commissioner and for all economic crime – including fraud – to sit with a dedicated cabinet minister.

Published on Thursday (July 18) by Crest Insights, the think-tank for the criminal justice system, the White Paper highlights the need for a “renewed focus” on online fraud within government strategy.

https://policeprofessional.com/news/new-white-paper-calls-for-step-change-in-fraud-response/

Organisations should be preparing now for a new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence in the UK, as organisation-wide understanding of the requirements and responsibilities may be necessary.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/eccta-preparing-for-the-new-failure-to-prevent-fraud-offence

This news comes a week after the UK payments group issued a plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to impose a 'Tech Levy' on social media giants to pay for the impact of payments fraud originating from their platforms.

From October 2024, payments services providers in the UK must reimburse consumers who have fallen victim to an APP scam when using Faster Payments. The reimbursement will be split 50:50 between sending and receiving PSPs.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has recovered around £1 million in the latest legal step of a probe into an organised crime group linked to a lottery winner, a bomb plot and a £55 million tax fraud.

Investigators have spent 13 years looking at the activities of Jonathan Nuttall and associated companies and individuals, revealing a complex payroll fraud and global money laundering scheme, a judge was told.

Southwark Crown Court has published a practice note on Judicial Control and Management of Heavy #Fraud and Other Complex Criminal Cases.

https://www.criminalbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-01-Southwark-Practice-Note-No.1-FINAL-INCL.-DMD.pdf

To find offence specific guidelines, type the name of the offence in the box below. You can also use words or phrases related to the offence, the name of the Act or section, or the CJS offence code. Guidelines shown in purple are not yet in force. There is more guidance on the magistrates’ courts sentencing guidelines homepage.

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/

A new national charity has been established to help those who have been affected by cyber or fraud crime.

The hub has been formed by the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland (CFCS) in response to a swift rise in calls from concerned members of the public to its helpline.

Last year, calls to the helpline doubled, with six in 10 coming from members of the public seeking advice following a suspected cyber or fraud crime.

https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,scottish-charity-launched-to-support-victims-of-cyber-crime-and-fraud-22129

The new criminal offence of failure to prevent fraud will likely result in a transformational corporate culture shift with respect to how fraud is viewed amid an ongoing fraud epidemic in the UK.

Currently, approximately 40% of reported crime in England and Wales is due to fraud, according to a recent House of Commons Justice Committee report (50 pages / 586 KB).

The general election appears to have delayed the likely implementation of the new failure to prevent fraud offences which were included in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (s 199 onwards). Regulations to bring the relevant sections into force can only be made after the secretary of state has published guidance on the procedures that relevant bodies can put in place to prevent persons associated with them from committing the fraud offences set out in the legislation (the guidance is required by s 204 of the Act).

https://www.taxjournal.com/articles/-failure-to-prevent-offences-delayed

The Independent Review into disclosure and fraud offences promised as part of the government’s May 2023 Fraud Strategy has now published its preliminary findings in the disclosure aspect of the investigation.

The independent review is due to examine the disclosure regime in the context of the ‘digital age’ and challenges in the investigation and prosecution of modern fraud.