§ Mr. Hancockasked the Attorney-General how many prosecutions have been made for fraud in the last two years; and what proportion have resulted in convictions.
§ The Attorney-GeneralFraud is a generic term covering a wide range of offences of differing degrees of gravity but each involving an element of dishonesty. Such offences are prosecuted by a number of prosecuting authorities, whereas my ministerial responsibility is confined to the work of the Director of Public Prosecutions and my Department holds no figures as to the total number of fraud cases prosecuted.
I am able to inform the hon. Member that, during 1985, the fraud divisions of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which handle serious cases of alleged fraud, commenced 150 prosecutions. Fifty-five trials on indictment were completed during that year, of which 42 resulted in conviction and 13 in acquittal. Comparable but more detailed figures for the first nine months of 1986 show that during that period 66 trials on indictment, involving 149 defendants, were completed.
Pleas of guilty or convictions were obtained in 59 cases. The outcome of those cases when analysed in terms of defendants was as follows:
Number Pleaded guilty 88 Convicted 45 Acquitted 16 The total sum at risk in the cases dealt with this year to 30 September was £147 million.