January 2, 2020
Fraud Newsletter 38 – December 2019
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CASES
Civil Recovery Order without notice (s357 POCA) may be justified even where no assets dissipated: information sought in public interest as likely to be of real value to ongoing criminal investigation: HMRC v B [2019] EWHC 3207 (Admin) (Westlaw).
Fraud (s1 Fraud Act) and engaging in unfair commercial practice (reg 11 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008): (i) construction of undisputed contractual provisions is a matter of law for the judge; (ii) the concept of standard of proof is not engaged in that task; (iii) on the facts the judge was correct to find the contractual provision was a penalty: Whatcott [2019] EWCA Crim 1889.
Observations on summing up in conspiracy to corrupt Lithuanian officials: of general application but includes observations on long (fraud) cases: Reynolds (the Alstrom case) [2019] EWCA 2145 at §§50-69.
6th SFO DPA agreed: SFO v Güralp Systems Ltd: 20 Dec 19 (William Davis J). DPA, Approved judgment and statement of facts: 22 Oct 19. All 3 Defendants acquitted on 20 Dec 19.
SENTENCING AND CONFISCATION
Private Prosecution – s92(1) Trade Marks Act 1994 (applying marks with a view to gain and without consent): 70 year old D – good character – 5 years directors disqualification and 2 years suspended upheld: Clements [2019] EWCA Crim 2253.
s298(2) POCA (cash forfeiture) application requires proof to civil standard that cash derives from unlawful s 327-329 POCA activity: Sandhu v Chief Constable West Midlands [2019] EWHC 3316 (Admin).
Joint Guidelines on Cooperation and information exchange for the purpose of Directive (EU) 2015/849 between competent authorities supervising credit and financial institutions: ESMA JC/2019/81: 16 Dec 19. Press Release Summary
Payment Threats & Fraud Trends Report 2019: EPC (European Payments Council) 9 Dec 19: Summary
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs): Law Society updated guidance: 17 Dec 19.
UK anti-money laundering authorities report record numbers of reports: Seddon: Scott & Jackson: Ropes & Gray LLP: 12 Nov 19.
BILLS, STATUTES & STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019 S.I. 2019 No. 1511: relevant persons now include letting agents, art market participants, custodian wallet and crypto asset (i.e. virtual currency) exchange providers, and the definition of tax advisers is extended. For summary of these and other new provisions see Explanatory Memorandum.
CONSULTATIONS, GUIDANCE, CIRCULARS AND REPORTS
Administrative and criminal sanctions and other administrative measure under MAR (Market Abuse Regulations): ESMA Annual Report 12 Dec 19: Summary
Brydon Report: Assess, Assure and Inform – Improving Audit Quality and Effectiveness: 18 Dec 19. List of Recommendations and Summary.
CPS updates: Financial Reporting Orders: Legal Guidance: 6 Nov 19; Intellectual Property Crime: 8 Nov 19; Theft Act offences: 25 Nov 19
Cranston Review: whether the Bank’s Customer Review delivered fair and reasonable offers of compensation to victims of fraud at HBOS Impaired Assets Unit: 10 Dec 19: for Scope etc. see website.
EU Council Conclusions on Strategic Priorities on AML and countering financing of terrorism: EU 14823/19: 5 Dec 19
Global Corruption Barometer – Middle East and North Africa 2019: Transparency Internat: 11 Dec 19.
FCA: £5m confiscation order against illegal money lender: 17 Dec 19
SFO: Glencore bribery investigation starts: 5 Dec 19; 2 former Serco directors charged with fraud: 16 Dec 19.
NEWS
Bitcoin money laundering is a dumb crime: its blockchain is an indelible record of all transactions: Transparency International: 2 Dec 19
Ericsson fined $1.2B for corruption by DoJ/SEC: ICAEW 9 Dec 19
Cifas fraud warning: hacking online accounts up by 96%; identity fraud up by 71%: Action Fraud: 29 Nov 18.
NCA accepts £190m settlement offer from one of Pakistan’s largest private sector employers: assets to be returned to the State of Pakistan: NCA: 3 Dec 19
NCA, FBI & National Cyber Security Centre expose Evil Corp, run by a Russian said to be the world’s most harmful cybercrime group: NCA 5 Dec 19.
Online scammers stealing billions in credit card fraud: estimated UK loss nearly £5B: Times 28 Nov 19.
Police failure adequately to combat fraud: Most forces have 0.05% of officers allocated to fraud; some have none. 1.8m reported fraud incidents in 2018. Of 500k reported to Action Fraud – 37.5k (7.5%) passed to police and 10k (2%) prosecuted: Times 19 Dec 19.
US probe deeper into Deutsche Bank’s role in Danske’s €200B money laundering scandal: Transparency International: 2 Dec 19