Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Ephgrave’s agenda for the Serious Fraud Office: collaboration, proposed whistleblower payments, disclosure reform and prioritising fraud against individuals and the public purse

Published on: 23 February 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Legal News

Article summary

What were the key messages from this inaugural speech by Director Ephgrave?

Mr Ephgrave outlined a vision of an SFO that is more proactive, quicker, bolder and more collaborative. Citing recent successes while acknowledging unspecified ‘challenges’, he committed to a larger role in the UK’s fight against fraud, to working faster and more efficiently (including using machine learning), and to becoming a ‘collaborator of choice’ with fellow law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and others. He spoke of a ‘visceral’ determination to confront fraud harming individuals and the public purse. When questioned, he did not dispute that this could mean less emphasis on fraud against private businesses and international corruption, although he stressed those cases would still be pursued. In contrast to his predecessor, he emphasised operating within the current system, while proposing changes such as payments to whistleblowers and a tighter relevance test for disclosure, which he said absorbs 25% of his resources. On disclosure, although he denied holding a fixed position on giving the defence ‘the keys to the warehouse’, he was clear he viewed that route as far from ideal...

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