Category: Serious Fraud Office

SFO secures sentences totalling over 13 years for executives behind $500m bank fraud

Fraud, Prosecutions, Serious Fraud Office
Today at Southwark Crown Court, Nasser Alaghband, the CEO of British steel trading company Balli Steel Plc, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, while two senior executives received sentences of over three years each. A Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation uncovered how Alaghband orchestrated a $500m fraud in a desperate attempt to keep his failing company afloat. He directed Melis Erda and Louise Worsell to secure bank loans, which they did by creating false contracts for non-existent steel shipments. These shipping documents were certified by an in-house shipping company, registered in the Cayman Islands, and operated…

UK’s SFO slapped down over attempts to flout jurisdiction rules

Serious Fraud Office
In another blow to the agency’s credibility, the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) cannot attempt to force foreign companies to hand over evidence held overseas, according to a recent court ruling. The U.K.’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously the SFO breached its authority when it attempted to compel U.S. engineering services company KBR—whose British subsidiary is under investigation for possible bribery and corruption offenses—to supply documents held outside the United Kingdom or face criminal sanction. Lawyers criticize what they see as another example of the SFO’s heavy-handedness to secure results—in this case by trying to use powers it never had in…