‘A multinational oil firm which was led by a major Conservative donor has been under investigation for allegedly paying million-pound bribes to secure contracts in nine countries. The anti-corruption agency the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been examining allegedly suspicious payments made by the UK-based firm Petrofac.’
The Guardian, 20th June 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A British businessman has been jailed for three and a half years after being convicted of conspiring to pay huge backhanders in one of the world’s biggest bribery scandals.’
The Guardian, 1st March 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘On 5 August 2020, the UK Supreme Court handed down judgment in Shagang Shipping Company Ltd (in liquidation) v HNA Group Company Ltd [2020] UKSC 34; [2020] 1 W.L.R. 3549. Against the background of a commercial charterparty dispute, this appeal raised important questions about the admissibility of evidence potentially obtained through torture.’
UKSC Blog, 8th December 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘This appeal arose out of a claim by the appellant under a guarantee of a contract, to charter a vessel which was met with a defence from the respondent that the contract was procured by bribery and that the guarantee was therefore unenforceable. The bribery allegation was based on evidence of confessions that the appellant alleged were obtained by torture and therefore inadmissible.’
UKSC Blog, 5th August 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘Individuals under investigation by law enforcement bodies have a reasonable expectation of privacy up to the point they are charged, the Court of Appeal has confirmed. Dismissing an appeal by a news agency barred from revealing the identity of a US businessman identified in documents concerning a bribery probe, the court ruled that the fact that an individual is the subject of a criminal investigation is genuinely of a different character from allegations about the conduct being investigated.’
Law Society's Gazette, 19th May 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Crown Court dismissed Vlad Luca Filat’s appeal against the decision to forfeit £500,000 held in three bank accounts in his name. The court held that the money derived from bribery and corruption offences committed by the appellant’s father, the former prime minister of Moldova, and was obtained by money laundering. The case was the National Crime Agency’s first contested account forfeiture application. James Fletcher, barrister at 5SAH Chambers, who appeared for the National Crime Agency, suggests that these types of applications are likely to be deployed more and more often.’
5 SAH, 14th January 2020
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
‘A players’ agent and a senior club football manager have been convicted of bribery charges following a Telegraph investigation.’
Daily Telegraph, 16th December 2019
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘More than £190m of assets, including a £50m mansion overlooking Hyde Park in London, have been seized from a Pakistani property tycoon after a settlement in a UK police “dirty money” investigation.’
The Guardian, 3rd December 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Solicitor General discusses some of the UK’s key successes in tackling economic crime and the UK government’s ambitious Economic Crime Plan.’
Attorney General’s Office, 2nd September 2019
Source: www.gov.uk/ago
‘More than £100m suspected to have been imported to the UK from bribery and corruption overseas has been frozen following a court order obtained by the National Crime Agency.’
The Guardian, 14th August 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Two accomplices who offered bribes to bank staff in an attempt to swindle hundreds of thousands of pounds were jailed today (January 17).’
Crown Prosecution Service, 17th January 2019
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘The home secretary and chancellor are to launch a joint assault on fraud, bribery, corruption and money laundering. Sajid Javid and Philip Hammond will chair a new taskforce that will work with senior figures in the financial sector to tackle economic crime. This is a broad category covering a range of illegal activity, with the Home Office estimating its scale to be at least £14.4bn a year.’
The Guardian, 14th January 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The lawyer who represented the defendant in what became the first conviction for ‘failure to prevent bribery’ has said it is ‘unfortunate’ that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) was not offered and that a larger company may have been given more preferential treatment.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th December 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will not appeal to the Supreme Court last month’s ruling that documents generated in connection with an investigation into the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) were protected by litigation privilege, it has confirmed.’
OUT-LAW.com, 3rd October 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Excessive court reporting restrictions, inadequate listing information and difficulties in obtaining documents are preventing scrutiny of economic crimes and bribery cases, according to a report by Corruption Watch UK.’
The Guardian, 16th July 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Sentencing Council has published its assessment of the impact of its Fraud, Bribery and Money Laundering offences guideline on sentencing trends, under its statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its sentencing guidelines and to draw conclusions from this information.’
Sentencing Council, 26th June 2018
Source: www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk
‘The conviction of a company and the jailing of two former company directors for offences under the UK Bribery Act should serve as a warning to businesses over a new tax evasion corporate offence, according to a tax law expert.’
OUT-LAW.com, 27th April 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
‘A juror has been jailed for six years after accepting a bribe during a £7 million cocaine dealing trial, which saw the defendants walk free.’
Daily Telegraph, 19th April 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘The UK courts have backed Petrofac boss Ayman Asfari in his battle against Italian insider trading allegations by ruling that he was not served notice of the charges leveled against him by the Italian authorities. The High Court ruling backs Mr Asfari’s claim that the shock sanctions leveled against him last summer by the Italian authorities did not follow due process, meaning he was unable to defend himself against the charges before they were imposed.’
Daily Telegraph, 24th January 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Traded companies, banks and insurers with a calendar financial year will be assessing how to comply with new non-financial reporting obligations over the coming months, including the obligation to report on anti-bribery and anti-corruption matters.’
OUT-LAW.com, 5th January 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
© Inner Temple Library 2021