Fraud Newsletter 5 – March 2017

CASES

Ivey v Genting Casinos UK Ltd (t/a Crockfords) [2016] EWCA Civ 1093, [2017] 1 Cr.App.R.16. £7.7m “won” playing Punto Banco baccarat. Edge-sorting (noticing minute differences which may appear on the patterns on the backs of high value cards and arranging for them to be rotated when placed back in the shoe) can amount to interfering with the process of the game and thus to statutory cheating. Dishonesty not required by s42 Gambling Act 2005.

SENTENCING AND CONFISCATION

Conspiracy and Fraud:   conspiracy to defraud or to commit a statutory offence of fraud may result in higher culpability and punishment that that which arises from actual participation in a resulting offence. Conspiracy involves looking at the intended harm and the defendant’s intended role which may be more serious than the actual, or truncated or failed agreement: Samuriwo [2016] EWCA Crim 1948, [2017] 1 Cr.App.R.(S) 226 (30) (Westlaw).

Copyright Theft: 2 years for guilty plea to copyright theft of audiobooks sold online netting £56k not manifestly excessive: Toschi [2017] EWCA Crim 141 (Westlaw).

For guidance on sentencing for infringement of copyright articles: Evans (Wayne) [2017] EWCA 139,  [2017] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 56.

False Representations and Trade Mark Offences:  Plea of Guilty at start of trial to supply of 7,000 counterfeit DVDs. 25 months not manifestly excessive: Saini [2017] EWCA Crim 234 (Westlaw).

New Guilty Plea Sentencing Guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, effective from 1 June 17.

BILLS, STATUTES & STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

Criminal Finances Bill: 

Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2017 (SI 2017/157) comes into force on 8 March 2017. Principal changes:

• Alters the definition of “designated person” in Art. 4(3) to include:
  • persons designated by the Treasury under Part 1 of the Act as it applies in UK;
  • persons designated by the Council of the European Union under article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) 2580/2001 of 27 Dec 01; and
  • persons designated by the Governor of an Overseas Territory following consultation with the Sec. of State.
• Governors to consult the Treasury or the Secretary of State before granting, varying or revoking a licence in respect of the persons to which the order extends (article 4(8)).

Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2016 (SI 2016/120) amend the CPR with effect from 4 April 2017. The principal new provisions relate to:

• Time limits for starting Crown Court trials.
• Applications for permission to serve draft indictments.
• Notice to introduce evidence of defendant’s own bad character.
• Identification of issues by the defence at the beginning of the trial
• Reading of witness statements at trial.

The changes are summarised and explained by the MoJ here.

Draft Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 published 15 Mar 17.

Prison and Courts Bill includes provisions for indictable only offences to be sent directly to the Crown Court from a police station; 30,000 pre-trial Crown Court video hearings; and email, telephone or video conferencing between the court and legal representatives.

CONSULTATIONS, GUIDANCE, CIRCULARS AND REPORTS

Bribery:  OECD Phase 4 Report on UK implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions makes a number of recommendations pp 92-97.

Crown Court Compendium Parts 1 (Jury, Trial Management and Summing up) and 2 (Sentencing) updated: 7 Jun 18.

Europol Report 2017 on EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA).

LPP: New Guidelines issued by Law Society on LPP 23 Feb 17.

NEWS

Barrister (senior) fined £1,000 for data protection breach:  failed to keep client sensitive personal information secure (her husband inadvertently uploaded unencrypted information about 250 people including vulnerable adults and children to the internet from his wife’s home computer when he was updating its software).

Crown Court verdicts by a judge: Jury dispensed with during summing-up because of attempted bribes:  R v Hussain [2017] T20167475.

Money Laundering and Gambling: New mandatory requirements for gambling operators will come into force later this year.

Money Laundering Supervisory Regime to be created:  Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) to be set up within the FCA to ensure AML supervisors fulfil their obligations.

Laundering of Russian Money by British Banks concerns expressed by NCA, Guardian 21 Mar 2017.

Mutual Legal Assistance: MoU signed with Panama re serious and organised crime.