Tight Budgets Hinder UK's Economic Crime-Fighting Efforts

Tight Budgets Hinder UK's Economic Crime-Fighting Efforts

March 7, 2019, Law360

Ian Hargreaves is quoted in Law360 regarding the U.K.’s tightened budget for investigation and prosecution of white collar crime. Mr. Hargreaves says, “The costs start to spiral out of control when you’re dealing with the sheer number of documents involved in highly complex cases. And so, if technology allows these documents to be collected, collated, reviewed and interrogated more thoroughly, then savings are to be expected — and potentially more successful prosecutions.”

He adds that Hargreaves that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is still underfunded for the work it is expected to do. “The SFO will only take a small number of highly complex fraud cases, which are high value or have a particular public interest. And the many cases that it declines are left for local police forces and other agencies to investigate, which to be honest do not have the resources available to them,” he said.