Fraud Newsletter No. 81 July 2023

El-Khouri v USA [2023] EWHC 1878 (Admin) dealing in CFDs confers rights which do not provide for the delivery of securities (Patel v. Mirza [2013] 2 P & CR DG23 approved) but s 52(3) Extradition Act 2003 bites because D relied on a professional intermediary.

Phillips v Barclays Bank [2023] UKSC 25. Bank owes no duty of care to customer induced by fraudulent means to authorise payment to fraudster. Summary judgement varied to permit alternative claim based on Bank’s alleged failure to act promptly re recall of payments after fraud discovered.

Armstrong Watson LLP v Person(s) Unknown [2023] EWHC 1761 (KB): permanent injunction against unknown ransomware cyber hacker.

Doubling the maximum prison term for the most egregious examples of tax fraud: from 7 to 14 years: HMRC: 18 Jul 23.

Make changes to your money laundering registration or deregister your business: HMRC updated 28 Jul 23.

Reporting Restrictions in the Criminal Courts – 5th ed update: C&TJ: 21 Jul 23 (previous version Sep 22).

Criminal Appeals: Issue Paper: Law Com. 27 Jul 23 – consultation closes 31 Oct 23.

Sectoral Risk Assessment -AML and terrorist financing: Sol. Reg. Authority: 24 Jul 23. Summary

Cyber Threat Report: UK Legal Sector: NCSC: 22 Jun 23

CPS:

• Former Governor of Nigeria’s Delta State ordered to pay over £100m and his solicitor over £28m: 24 Jul 23.

• Former police officer jailed for bribery offences: 19 Jul 23.

• Money launderers sentenced for key roles in an over £100m plot of transporting cash to Dubai: 12 Ju 23.

• COVID-19 fraudster sentenced for laundering nearly £200k from taxpayers: 3 Jul 23.

FCA:

• Confiscation Order against convicted money launderer for £562,636: 28 Jul 23.

• Market Cleanliness Statistics 2022/23: 20 Jul 23

• FCA Outcomes & Metrics: §4.5 Reducing & Preventing Financial Crime: Updated 20 July 23.

• Individual charged with fraud over unauthorised investment scheme: 19 Jul 23.

• Andrew and Peter Currie sentenced to a combined 8 years for fleecing consumers through Collateral P2P platform: 14 Jul 23.

• Bastion Capital London fined £2.5m for serious financial control failings re £73B trading in Danish and Belgian cum-ex equities “highly suggestive of financial crime”: 13 Jul 23: unlikely to be recovered as Bastion in liquidation. Bastion Final Notice

NCA:

• Birmingham fraudsters cashed in on pandemic by selling hundreds of illegal coronavirus testing kits and planned to sell millions more on dark web: 28 Jul 23.

SFO:

• Notice of Discontinuance: G4S Care & Justice Services (UK) Ltd: 17 Jul 23.

• Sheffield flat linked to £17m bribery in China seized: 14 Jul 23.

• Interest rate ‘rigger’ wins right to appeal in UK: CCRC refers Tom Hayes Libor conviction to CA Crim: BBC News 7 Jul 23. CCRC News Report: 6 Jul 23.

• New SFO Director announced: A-G /SFO: 5 Jul 23. Nick Ephgrave QPM former Police Commissioner, Chair NPCC Criminal Justice Co-ordination Committee, and member of CPR Com’tee and Sentencing Council. Has experience in disclosure: see Blog 24 Jan 18.

• Latest delay alarms victims of HBOS Reading scandal: The Times (paywall) 24 Jul 23.

• Poker-Playing Trader Loses London Bid to Halt US Insider Charges – Appeal to SC being considered: Yahoo Finance: 21 Jul 23.

• Crime in England and Wales: y/e March 23: 9. Fraud: frauds up by 15% to pre-COVID levels – advance fee frauds up by 549%; bank frauds etc down 14%: ONS: 20 Jul 23.

• Teen hacked Uber, Revolut and Grand Theft Auto maker, London court hears: allegations include $3m damage to Uber; BT Group $4m ransom demand: Investing.com: 11 Jul 23.

• Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis charged with ‘brazen’ insider trading: Guardian 26 Jul 23. 16 counts: granted $300m bail, banned from using his superyacht: BBC News 27 Jul 23.

• Mastermind of $9.4M Amazon Fraud Scheme Gets 16-Year Sentence: DoJ 24 Jul 23.

• Congressional Leaders unveil bicameral, bipartisan Bill to protect Americans from bribery abroad – Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) proposed to make illegal foreign officials demanding or accepting bribes from US companies: Trans. Int US: 18 Jul 23.