Economic crime plan 2019 to 2022

The Government has published the Economic Crime Plan 2019-2022 which sets out the 7 priority areas agreed by the Economic Crime Strategic Board in January 2019. The priority areas are intended to reduce economic crime through the enhancement of data sharing, law enforcement and better understanding of the threat in both the private and public sectors.

Despite being recognised as a world leader in combating economic crime, the UK is still though to lose around £37 million a year to serious and organised crime. Much of this money is used to fund drug trafficking and gang violence.

The Economic Crime Plan 2019-2022 can be read here.

Source: Gov.uk

Police Chief calls for change to cyber crime policy

A police chief has called for a review of how the UK tackles cyber crime after falling victim to online fraud. Fraudsters sent an invoice via email made to look like it was from a contractor used by the force. The crime was only identified when the bank alerted the victim that the bank account details differed from those of the contractor’s. However, the money had already been paid a the majority was unable to be recovered.

The police chief stated that cyber crime must be tackled nationally and that current policy puts too much pressure on local forces to deal with an issue that is typically complex and expensive. The latest statistics show that more than £190,000 a day is lost by victims of cyber crime each day in the UK.

Source: The Telegraph

Anti-corruption Newsletter: Spring 2019

The Home Office has released its anti-corruption newsletter for spring 2019. The Newsletter contains an update on the governments progress in the fight against corruption in the UK and abroad.

There are five key areas covered in the newsletter: the international beneficial ownership transparency campaign; the business integrity initiative; the economic crime strategic board; the international partnership against corruption in sport; and the United Nations convention against corruption review.

Source: Gov.uk

Update to Criminal Finances Act

A circular has been released regarding the extension of the moratorium period for suspicious activity reports under the Criminal Finances Act. As part of this, guidance was released aimed at ensuring consistent practice for law enforcement agencies.

Global Law Enforcement Action Against Vendors and Buyers on the Dark Web

Law enforcement agencies from Canada, the United States and a number of European countries have joined forces to target vendors and sellers of illegal good on the dark web.

As a result of this operation, agencies made 61 arrests and shut down 50 dark web accounts. Moreover, 65 search warrants were issued resulting in the seizure of 2995 kg of drugs, 51 firearms and over €6.2 million (including cryptocurrency, cash and gold).

Source: Europol

Treasury Committee publishes evidence on economic crime

The Treasury Committee has published evidence taken on 13 February 2019 from executives at UK Finance, Santander UK and Nationwide as part of its inquiry into economic crime.

The evidence was taken on 13 February 2019 following a letter to the Treasury Committee from Caroline Wayman, chief ombudsman and chief executive of the FOS, who notes that the FOS received 8,500 complaints about fraud and scams in 2017/18 and has already received over 10,000 new cases this financial year.

Evidence has been given by:

• Stephen Jones, chief executive, UK Finance
• Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking, Santander UK
• Chris Rhodes, chief product and propositions officer, Nationwide Building Society

Written evidence has also been given from UK Finance and Santander UK.

Source: Treasury Committee: Oral evidence: Economic Crime, HC 940

DCMS Committee holds the first evidence session of its new inquiry into Immersive and Addictive technologies, seeking an overview of issues with academics and researchers.

The enquiry examined the development of immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality and their impact on sport, entertainment and news. Further examination given to the addictive nature of some technologies and user engagement with gaming and social media.

The Civil Procedure (Amendment) (EU Exit) Rules 2019

The Civil Procedure (Amendment) (EU Exit) Rules 2019 will come into force on 1^st March 2019. The purpose of this statutory instrument is to set out the procedure for court reviews in England and Wales against sanctions decisions made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (the Act). It makes amendments to existing rules of court (The Civil Procedure Rules) so that the government can apply to the court for sensitive material to be disclosed only to special advocates and the court on the basis of this being in the public interest.

Improving the police response to fraud

New research by the Police Foundation and Perpetuity Research has looked at the police response to fraud and how it can be improved.

Fraud is estimated to make up 31 per cent of all crime in England and Wales, with 3.24 million fraud offences estimated to have taken place in the twelve months to March 2018. 45 per cent of fraud victims felt that the financial loss they had experienced had an impact on their emotional wellbeing. 37 per cent reported a significant psychological or emotional impact. Yet despite the scale and impact of the problem, it is widely agreed that fraud and the harms it causes are not prioritised by the police.

The report recommends:

• A national and a policing strategy to tackle fraud.
• Investigations conducted by dedicated fraud units.
• National force guidelines on services to fraud victims.
• A national framework for identifying vulnerable victims of fraud.
• Local forces to provide fraud prevention advice and outreach to vulnerable victims.

Source: Police Foundation

New taskforce to tackle economic crime

The Home Secretary and Chancellor will jointly chair a new government taskforce which will work with senior figures from the UK financial sector to tackle economic crime.

The new Economic Crime Strategic Board, which will meet twice a year, will set priorities, direct resources and scrutinise performance against the economic crime threat, which is set out in the Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) Strategy.

The scale of this type of crime – which includes fraud, bribery, corruption and money laundering – is estimated to be at least £14.4 billion per year, and the number of suspicious activity reports (SARs) increased by about 10% during 2017-18, including a 20% rise in requests for a defence against money laundering.

Source: GOV.UK