Fraud Intelligence

The UK government is failing to deal effectively with fraud across all departments, according to the latest report from theNational Audit Office (NAO).

Large "bodies corporate and partnerships" will need to ensure they have "reasonable procedures" in place to prevent fraud committed for their benefit by an employee or agent, or potentially face an unlimited fine, under an amendment to the Economic Crime and Transparency Bill going through the UK Parliament.

Charlie Javice, founder of shuttered New York-based student loan assistance company 'Frank', is facing both civil and criminal charges in parallel cases brought by the United States Securities &Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DoJ) over alleged fake customer numbers.

The fact that tax fraud appears to have caught the eye of the government should perhaps come as no surprise, says Nicola Sharp of Rahman Ravelli, but doubling of the maximum prison sentence for the offence is a notable development.

The UK's Fraud Advisory Panel has warned that British government failure to monitor and fight public housing tenancy fraud means 76% of such scams go undetected in England, costing more than UK£500 million (US$619 million) in unnecessary social housing spending during 2019-20.