New crackdown on whiplash claims set to cut insurance premiums – Ministry of Justice

Posted November 23rd, 2016 in consultations, fraud, insurance, personal injuries, press releases by tracey

‘Millions of motorists could see their car insurance cut by about £40 a year thanks to plans to crackdown on the epidemic of whiplash claims.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 17th November 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

CPS confiscates £4.2m from mortgage fraudster – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted November 23rd, 2016 in confiscation, Crown Prosecution Service, fraud, mortgages, press releases by tracey

‘A convicted mortgage fraudster has been stripped of more than £4 million in criminal assets after prosecutors forced him to sell off his property empire or face further time in prison.’

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 18th November 2016

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Members of £2 million cold call gang jailed – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted November 23rd, 2016 in conspiracy, fraud, press releases, sentencing, telecommunications by tracey

‘Two members of a gang who defrauded more than £2 million from members of the public in a large-scale cold-calling fraud have been jailed, bringing the total number of people sent to prison to eight.’

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 21st November 2016

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

War medal fakers should face criminal charges, say MPs – BBC News

Posted November 22nd, 2016 in armed forces, bills, crime, fraud, misrepresentation, news, reports, war by sally

‘Impostors who wear military medals they are not entitled to should be liable to criminal charges, MPs say.’

Full story

BBC News, 22nd November 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

SFO asks for private hearing in unfair dismissal claim by ex-Barclays banker – The Guardian

Posted November 21st, 2016 in banking, employment, fraud, news, private hearings, unfair dismissal by sally

‘The Serious Fraud Office will on Monday ask a London employment tribunal to hear an unfair dismissal claim by a former senior banker at Barclays in private.’

Full story

The Guardian, 20th November 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Conwoman who pretended to be barrister, Wonderbra model, heiress and cancer victim jailed for five years – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 16th, 2016 in documents, fraud, impersonating a barrister, news, sentencing by sally

‘A “ruthless” conwoman who pretended to be a barrister, a Wonderbra model, a wealthy heiress, a dying cancer victim and even Heston Blumenthal’s “design guru” has been jailed for an “extraordinary” catalogue of frauds.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 16th November 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Home Secretary’s speech to the FCA’s Financial Crime Conference – Home Office

‘Home Secretary Amber Rudd gave a speech on economic crime at the Financial Conduct Authority annual crime conference on 10 November 2016.’

Full speech

Home Office, 14th November 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Promises about one’s principal: breach of warranty of authority and the case of P&P Property Ltd v Owen White & Catlin LLP – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 10th, 2016 in fraud, law firms, negligence, news, warranties by sally

‘If a solicitor executes a contract to sell “1 The Mall” that identifies the seller as “Mr Bloggs of 1 The Mall” (Mr Bloggs being the registered proprietor of that property), does the solicitor thereby promise to the buyer:

1. that she has authority to sell the property from the actual Mr Bloggs, the true owner of 1 The Mall? Or
2. that her client was someone who told her he was Mr Bloggs and that he owned 1 The Mall?’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 4th November 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Reform of proceeds of crime laws by Law Commission urgently needed, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

‘The current regime of confiscation orders is failing to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes. The Law Commission of England and Wales must seize the opportunity to reform the law in this area as part of its 13th programme of law reform.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 8th November 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Exemplary Damages in the Tort of Deceit – Park Square Barristers

‘On the 1st November 2016 at Manchester County Court Toby Coupe, instructed by Toby Evans (Partner, Keoghs LLP) and Richard Harvey (Senior Claims Handler, Zurich Insurance PLC) to act on behalf of Zurich Insurance PLC (‘Zurich’), obtained an order that the Claimants and the Second Defendant do pay Zurich £5,000 in exemplary damages and £16,844.04 in indemnity costs, such costs to be enforceable to the full extent of the Order pursuant to CPR 44.16 (1), on the basis that the claims had been found to be fundamentally dishonest.’

Full story

Park Square Barristers, 2nd November 2016

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Cancer lie military clerk Simon Buckden jailed – BBC News

Posted November 8th, 2016 in armed forces, fraud, news, sentencing by sally

‘A former military clerk who lied about having cancer to swindle victims out of money and services worth more than £7,500 has been jailed for 16 months.’

Full story

BBC News, 7th November 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Man found guilty over hamper scam targeting West Ham staff – The Guardian

Posted November 1st, 2016 in fraud, news by sally

‘A man who conned Premier League footballers and the former England manager Sam Allardyce out of thousands of pounds has been convicted of fraud.’

Full story

The Guardian, 31st October 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Kazakhstan Kagazy plc and others v Zhunus and others – WLR Daily

Posted October 31st, 2016 in civil procedure rules, contribution, fraud, freezing injunctions, law reports by sally

Kazakhstan Kagazy plc and others v Zhunus and others [2016] EWCA Civ 1036

‘The claimants were a group of companies. The first and second defendants had been, respectively, the chairman of the board and the chief executive officer of the first and second claimants. The third defendant had been the finance director of the second claimant. The claimants issued proceedings alleging, inter alia, that the defendants had dishonestly caused the claimant companies to enter into transactions in which large sums of money were paid to entities owned or controlled by the defendants and which had caused the claimants to incur substantial financial losses. All three defendants served defences denying fraud and dishonesty or that they had personally benefitted from the transactions. Subsequently, the first defendant reached a settlement of the claim against him with the claimants. The second and third defendants applied for permission pursuant to CPR r 20.6(2)(b) to bring a contribution claim against the first defendant, no such claim having been filed and served when they served their defence. The second defendant further sought a worldwide freezing order against the first defendant. The judge refused the applications, holding that (i) the claim for contribution was bound to fail because the draft contribution notice sought to be relied upon by the second and third defendants did not advance a case of actual fraud or wrongdoing by the first defendant and, following the their settlement agreement with the first defendant, no such case was being advanced by the claimants which the second and third defendants could adopt as an alternative to their primary position that they had acted honestly; and (ii) the court could only grant a freezing injunction once the applicant had an accrued cause of action, which, in the context of a claim for contribution, was once the contribution notice had been filed and served under CPR r 20.6(2).’

WLR Daily, 26th October 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Jail again for fraudulent ex-solicitor who hijacked law firm’s identity – Legal Futures

Posted October 25th, 2016 in costs, fraud, identity fraud, law firms, news, recidivists, sentencing, solicitors by michael

‘An ex-solicitor has been found guilty and jailed for five years for five counts of fraud by false representation – his second spell in jail for fraud after he previously stole from his firm’s client account’

Full story

Legal Future, 21st October 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Sham marriage gang jailed for more than 52 years – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted October 25th, 2016 in conspiracy, fraud, gangs, marriage, news, sentencing by michael

‘Eleven people have been jailed after they were found guilty of facilitating and participating in sham marriages between European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and non-EEA nationals.’

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 24th October 2016

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Mandatory order to stop bribery investigation? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted October 14th, 2016 in bribery, fraud, human rights, judicial review, news, oil wells, prosecutions by sally

‘Soma are investing heavily ($40m spent on seismic work) in looking at oil and gas extraction in Somalia, so it was a bit of a set-back, to say the least, when their “capacity-building” efforts – funding infrastructure in the relevant Ministry – were alleged to fall under the Bribery Act 2010, and this led to a fraud investigation by the UK SFO. The investigations, as investigations do, dragged on, and Soma brought these, somewhat ambitious, proceedings to get an order telling the SFO to stop them.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 13th October 2016

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Insurers gloomy as Truss ditches whiplash reform plans – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 13th, 2016 in fraud, insurance, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘Justice secretary Liz Truss has shelved plans for a major overhaul of the personal injury sector, the Gazette has learned.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 13th October 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Conman who pretended washing powder was cocaine guilty of defrauding drug users – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 5th, 2016 in drug abuse, drug offences, fraud, illegality, news by sally

‘A conman who was found to be selling washing powder as cocaine has ended up in court for fraud.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 4th October 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Penniless conman who posed as wealthy tycoon jailed over scam to buy Anthony Eden’s childhood home – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 29th, 2016 in fraud, mortgages, news, sentencing by tracey

‘William Davenport, 60, who claimed to earn almost half a million pounds a year as a computer executive, promised to spend whatever it took to preserve Windlestone Hall near Bishop Auckland in County Durham for future generations. But rather than being a jet-setting business mogul with millions in the bank, Davenport, was in fact a penniless conman, who span an elaborate web of deceit in order to build up a mind boggling property portfolio.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 28th September 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Serious Fraud Office steps up BHS investigation – The Guardian

Posted September 29th, 2016 in fraud, insolvency, news, pensions, Serious Fraud Office by tracey

‘The Serious Fraud Office has stepped up its inquiries into the collapse of BHS and the conduct of the department store chain’s former owner Dominic Chappell.’

Full story

The Guardian, 28th September 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk