Fraud is a criminal offence in the UK and can result in serious penalties. The relevant legislation in the UK is the Fraud Act 2006.
Under this Act, it is an offense to dishonestly make a false representation with the intention of causing a gain or loss. This could include making a false statement or providing false documents in order to obtain a court order.
Fraud is the act of gaining a dishonest advantage, often financial, over another person. It is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales, with an estimated 3.4 million incidents in the year ending March 2017.
More than half of these were cyber-related and the number of fraud and forgery cases dealt with by the CPS has risen by almost a third since 2011.
Fraud and economic crime – Crown Prosecution Service
A future MOI article will examine alleged “fraud and organised crime” in the justice system and legal profession.
Justice Select Committee Report
In February 2022, the Justice Committee began examining the ability of the Justice System to effectively prosecute fraud cases.
The Committee was particularly interested in how the system is set up to tackle lower-level frauds, that are often not serious enough to be considered by the Serious Fraud Office but have a significant impact on the public.
They committee also sort to understand the plans that the Government and bodies working in the Justice System had to tackle rising instances of fraud.
The Justice select committee published a full report Fraud and the Justice System on the 18th October 2022.
UK justice system ‘ill-equipped’ for rise in fraud, say MPs – The Guardian
- UK justice system ‘ill-equipped’ for rise in fraud
- Action Fraud ‘unfit for purpose’ as number of victims rises 25% in two years
- Only 2% of police funding was dedicated to combating fraud despite it accounting for 40% of reported crime
- The Office for National Statistics disclosed last month that the number of people falling victim to fraud had risen by 25% in the past two years, with 4.5m offences in a 12-month period
- The committee chair Sir Bob Neill, said fraud was expected to increase, but that the justice system had not reacted to the change. “People are losing their life savings and suffering lasting emotional and psychological harm,” he said. “But the level of concern from law enforcement falls short of what is required.
- “Fraud prevention, investigation and prosecution too often has seemed like an afterthought, last in the queue for resources, monitoring and even court time. We need the criminal justice system to have the resources and focus to be able to adapt to new technologies and emerging trends.”
HMICFRS Fraud Inspection
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published A review of ‘Fraud: Time to choose’
In 2018, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to carry out a thematic inspection of fraud.
We conducted our inspection between March and July 2018. In April 2019, we published Fraud: Time to choose – An inspection of the police response to fraud. In that report, we made 16 recommendations and identified 5 areas for improvement (AFIs).
We have revisited our previous inspection to see how the police service has responded to the recommendations and AFIs we made in that report. This report presents our findings on the progress that has been made.
A review of ‘Fraud: Time to choose’ – HMICFRS
Fraud Strategy
The government published a policy paper Fraud Strategy on the 3rd May 2023 which sets out a plan to reduce fraud by 10% on 2019 levels by December 2024.
#SFJB – Fraud at the Sussex Family Justice Board ?
National Lead Force
The City of London Police are the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Economic and Cyber Crime and National Lead Force for Fraud. They operate Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
Working with City of London Police and local forces is the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), which sits within the National Crime Agency (NCA).
We investigate some of the country’s most complex cases of fraud, set the national strategy and coordinate the operational response. We also host Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, on behalf of policing.
With over 40 per cent of all crime reported in the UK being fraud related, the National Lead Force (NLF), as part of the City of London Police, serves a crucial role in the coordination of the policing response: identifying, disrupting and prosecuting fraud and economic crime across the country.
National Lead Force – City of London Police
If you have arrived at the Ministry of Injustice from https://cityoflondonpolice.uk (a MOI domain) you may well have been looking for https://cityoflondon.police.uk which is the official website for City of London Police.
For the avoidance of doubt this website is not run by City of London Police nor is it associated in any way with City of London Police.
Call 999 if:
- a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed
- someone is in immediate danger or harm
- property is in danger of being damaged
- a serious disruption to the public is likely
Call 101 for non-emergency enquiries. You can also Report a Crime online.
Check out our articles on Sussex Police, Police News, Policing By Consent, Innocent until Proven Guilty, HHJ Farquhar, HHJ Bedford and the highly questionable Sussex Family Justice Board.
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