§ 39. Mr. BryantTo ask the Solicitor-General what assessment her Department has made of the obstacles to securing prosecutions for major fraud. [40763]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralSince its inception, the Serious Fraud Office has identified some common obstacles to securing prosecutions of major fraud cases and these can arise at either the investigative stage or during the trial. During the investigation these can include
Dearth of police resource and expertise. This is addressed in the recent report of the Interdepartmental Working Party, chaired by the SFO, which has recommended the establishment of a national Police Fraud Squad or increased resources for the SFO to enable them to use more civilian investigators.Sheer weight of documentary and computer-generated material which has to be sifted, analysed and organised often under constraints of time.Most cases of major fraud have an international association as either the evidence, the witnesses or defendants are outside the jurisdiction of the courts.Obstacles at the trial stage include:
Lack of a single substantive offence of "fraud", which obliges the prosecutor to charge theft or deception offences.Demonstrating where dishonesty lies in unfamiliar commercial and financial transactions where the forum is unfamiliar with the context or the financial instruments involved.Attempting to simplify what are, in many cases, essentially very complex commercial transactions in specialist financial markets can detract from the ability to demonstrate the "whole picture".Availability of trained judges with experience of serious fraud cases. This is an issue currently being addressed by the senior presiding judge.