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FOI disclosure: SFO’s ENRC probe dropped for lack of admissible evidence; investigation and civil defence costs total £28m, with £237m damages provision

Published on: 07 November 2024

Published by a Law360 reporter
Legal News
Article summary

The SFO disclosed via a Freedom of Information Act request that it had spent £16m over a decade probing ENRC, before abandoning the prosecution in 2023 due to a lack of admissible evidence. Since 2016, the agency has further paid £12m to external lawyers, including Eversheds Sutherland LLP, on civil proceedings as it defended the original decision to commence the criminal inquiry. An SFO spokesperson on 6 November 2024 said the expenditure reflected a lengthy, complex investigation that pursued every reasonable lead, alongside a robust defence of ENRC’s claims following the launch of the probe. The figures were posted on the SFO’s website on 31 October 2024. However, ENRC’s sought damages in the civil action could yet surpass those sums. ENRC, the mining giant at the centre of the probe, was investigated for ten years, with the SFO stressing that reasonable avenues were pursued before the case was halted...

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