§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions have been initiated by the Serious Fraud Office; and how many of these have been successful.
§ The Attorney-GeneralSince the establishment of the Serious Fraud Office, it has instituted criminal proceedings against 328 defendants.
Of this total, 221 have been tried. Of these 139 were convicted of one or more offences without a successful appeal, 72 were acquitted of all offences and 10 were 661W neither convicted nor acquitted. In the case of eight defendants proceedings were ordered to lie on the file, one defendant died and a nolle prosequi was entered in the remaining case.
Of the remaining defendants, 90 have had proceedings instituted against them but have not yet been tried, seven are abroad and warrants for their arrest have not yet been executed, and 10 did not proceed to trial.