Nick Ephgrave’s first major speech since taking the top job at the Serious Fraud Office took in whistleblowing, disclosure and new investigative techniques.
The new director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Nick Ephgrave, has outlined his vision for the agency in his first public speech since taking office in September 2023. Speaking yesterday (13 February) at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, Ephgrave said he was committed to building a strong, dynamic and pragmatic authority that can tackle the most serious or complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption.
Keen to throw a spotlight on the SFO’s successes, Ephgrave told his audience about some of the biggest cases of fraud, bribery and corruption this country has ever seen, where SFO prosecutions have generated GBP 1.1 billion for the Treasury in the last five years, delivering a return on investment of 317%. He also said the SFO had secured significant successes from companies, such as the biggest ever deferred prosecution agreement with Airbus, worth EUR 1 billion, and the prosecution of Glencore, which recovered around GBP 280 million.
As well as pointing to some notable successes, Ephgrave was not afraid to acknowledge that the SFO faced increasing challenges, such as the scale and complexity of cases, the costs of disclosure, and the consequences of failures in a robust justice system. He also said the SFO had to do all it could to contract the time between investigation and prosecution, as...
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