§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Solicitor General how many(a) investigations and (b) prosecutions by the Serious Fraud Office there were in each year since 1988; how many prosecutions led to a conviction in each year; what the total cost was; and if she will make a statement. [99832]
§ The Solicitor-General[holding answer 4 March 2003]: The following table provides all the relevant Serious Fraud Office statistics in relation to investigations, prosecutions and the total cost from the inception of the SFO in April 1988 to date (end of February 2003).
Since its inception, the conviction rate of the Serious Fraud Office as an average, is 84 per cent. by number of trials in which at least one defendant was found guilty and 73 per cent. by number of defendants, which I am sure the hon. Gentleman will agree is a respectable record.