Serious Fraud Office Investigations

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a specialist prosecuting authority that investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud, bribery, and corruption cases in the UK and beyond. The SFO works with both domestic and international law enforcement agencies to address economic crime, and SFO investigations may involve the police, local authorities and other bodies. As an independent government department with jurisdiction in England and Wales, the SFO can impose serious penalties if you are convicted of a serious or complex fraud offence or other financial crime.

You should seek legal advice urgently if you are facing an SFO investigation, and working with the fraud specialists at JMW can make all the difference to the outcome of the process. The SFO’s powers are slightly different in some important respects to those given to other enforcement agencies. Not all criminal lawyers will have experience in challenging and dealing effectively with the application of these powers. We can represent you throughout the investigation process and offer expert advice to help you protect yourself, your business and your reputation. 

Contact JMW's experienced fraud solicitors today to protect yourself during Serious Fraud Office investigations and give yourself the best chance of a positive outcome. Call us on 0345 872 6666 or use our online enquiry form to request a call back at your convenience.

How JMW Can Help

If you are under investigation by the SFO for a suspected offence, you should seek legal advice urgently. The SFO has powers to gather evidence by interviewing witnesses and accessing documents relating to alleged fraud, but it must do so according to strict procedures. JMW's solicitors can represent your interests during dawn raids or interviews and make sure that SFO investigators collect evidence according to legal requirements.

During the investigation process, we can help you to comply without incriminating yourself or your organisation and advise you of what to expect. We can challenge the evidence or procedure and, if there are grounds to do so, make representations to the SFO about discontinuing the investigation. If the investigation results in criminal proceedings , we can represent you in court, challenge the prosecution's evidence and help you to mount a defence. We have been involved in many complex cases, including high profile SFO prosecutions and recognise the need for a thorough and committed approach.

A conviction can result in fines, custodial sentences and other penalties but, if necessary, our solicitors can represent you at sentencing and present mitigating circumstances to ensure that penalties are not unfairly levied against you. Thanks to our experience in compliance and regulation, we can also examine your business' anti-corruption and anti-fraud procedures to minimise the risk of any allegations of failure to prevent bribery or fraud.

What Do Serious Fraud Office Investigations Involve?

An SFO investigation is a detailed and structured process designed to uncover and address complex economic crimes such as fraud, bribery, and corruption. These investigations are often extensive, with multiple stages and significant collaboration with national and international partners.

The SFO evaluates reports of suspected economic crime from sources such as whistleblowers, government agencies, regulatory bodies, and its own intelligence-gathering activities. The SFO director has the remit to choose cases based on factors like their financial impact, complexity, and public interest. A formal decision to investigate is made when the crime meets the SFO’s criteria and its specialised expertise is required. From there, the investigation process typically unfolds as follows:

• Compiling evidence: Under the Criminal Justice Act 1987, the SFO can compel individuals and organisations to produce documents or digital records, and answer questions under oath. Investigators will collect financial records, contracts, emails, phone records, and other relevant materials at this stage. Evidence-gathering may also involve covert operations or surveillance. The SFO may also conduct searches of premises with court-approved warrants, often in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, where physical and digital evidence can be seized and examined.
• Interviews: Individuals, including suspects, witnesses, and whistleblowers, may be invited to voluntary interviews or compelled to attend interviews under caution. Legal representatives can be present during interviews and it can be vital to your defence to have legal support. Your solicitor can also advise you on whether it is in your best interests to cooperate with the investigation and if so, how it should be done.
• Forensic analysis: The SFO will bring in specialists to review financial data, company accounts, and digital evidence. Inspectors may use techniques like forensic accounting and data analysis to trace funds and uncover fraudulent activity.
• International cooperation: Many cases involve cross-border elements, and require collaboration with foreign law enforcement, regulators, and agencies such as Interpol or Europol. Once the SFO has built a bank of evidence using the techniques listed above, investigators will coordinate with their international counterparts to determine the full scope of any alleged criminal behaviour.
• Charging decisions: After gathering all of the necessary evidence, the SFO determines whether there is sufficient evidence to charge individuals or corporations. It may consult the Crown Prosecution Service for advice on legal strategy and compliance with prosecutorial standards. Charges may include offences under the Fraud Act 2006, Bribery Act 2010, or Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).
• Prosecution: If charges are brought, the SFO prosecutes the case in court. Alternatively, the organisation may negotiate a Deferred Prosecution Agreement for corporate entities. This means that a company, charity or organisation must admit wrongdoing, pay a fine and implement compliance measures to avoid prosecution.
• Asset recovery: Using POCA regulations, the SFO can initiate proceedings to recover assets obtained through criminal activity. This may involve freezing accounts and confiscating property, although these actions may also be taken during the investigation stage. In severe cases, the SFO may seek compensation for victims.

An SFO investigation always takes a long time and involves many lines of enquiry, which can be demanding for the people involved. It is vital to secure legal representation at all stages of this process to protect yourself, your business and your reputation. You need to understand your rights, any charges you are facing, and how best to comply with investigators, and that is where JMW can help.

What Types of Financial Crime Fan the SFO Investigate?

The SFO was set up under the authority of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, with the aim of investigating complex and high-value economic crimes. In particular, it takes on cases that are beyond the capacity of other law enforcement agencies to manage effectively, such as large economic crime cases. SFO investigators may work alongside other agencies and authorities in complex fraud cases. 

If the SFO director believes that a case may involve actual or intended harm to the public or the UK's reputation as an international financial centre, the organisation may launch an investigation or become involved in an ongoing case. SFO investigations typically focus on cases that involve serious or organised fraud, bribery, and corruption, and the organisation may be involved in any of the following types of financial crime:

• Investment fraud, Ponzi schemes and other fraudulent investment vehicles.
• Corporate fraud committed through manipulation of financial statements, false accounting, or deceitful activities by company executives.
• Financial market fraud, such as manipulation of markets or insider trading schemes.
• The payment or receipt of bribes to secure business or advantages.
• Corrupt practices in both domestic and international transactions.
• Corporate bribery cases involving failure to prevent bribery by associates or subsidiaries.
• Cartel activity involving businesses colluding to manipulate prices or markets in violation of competition laws.
• Misrepresentation to regulators or investors and providing false information to mislead authorities or shareholders.
• Corporate negligence, including failing to prevent or report fraudulent activity or bribery.
• Money laundering schemes, especially those connected to fraud or corruption. These may include aspects of money laundering like concealing the proceeds of crime through international financial systems, or using shell companies or offshore accounts to disguise illicit funds.
• Phishing schemes aimed at defrauding businesses.
• Misuse of cryptocurrencies to launder money or fund fraudulent schemes.
• Bribery involving foreign officials or multinational companies.
• Fraud schemes operating across multiple jurisdictions.
• Laundering funds through global financial institutions.

These crimes are not the exclusive remit of the Serious Fraud Office, but the organisation will often be found in cases involving a high level of sophistication or planning or substantial financial losses (in the millions of pounds), or is of significant public interest due to the scale or impact of the crime. It may also be called into investigations where there is an international element and coordinate with overseas authorities, forensic accountants and legal experts in gathering evidence and prosecuting crimes.

As such, it is important to work with experienced solicitors when defending an alleged bribery, corruption or serious fraud offence involving the SFO. These proceedings can be complicated, but the right solicitor can stay focused on the aspects of your case that matter to you and provide the tailored legal services you need for your defence.

Why Choose JMW?

At JMW, our fraud specialists offer comprehensive services to represent individuals and businesses during Serious Fraud Office investigations, and defend them in court where necessary. As a full-service law form, we can also support you with compliance and internal investigations, to help your business to determine whether it has taken sufficient steps to prevent fraud, bribery and corruption. Because we recognise that financial scandals can impose significant reputational damage for businesses and individuals, we offer reputation management services to protect your good name.

Having worked on many cases relating to the Serious Fraud Office, we have the experience to provide practical advice to help you achieve the best possible outcome. With offices in Manchester and London, we can scale our services to even the most complex cases, including those with an international element. Our business crime experts have been ranked in Tier 1 of the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners guides, which represents their commitment to delivering the highest quality services.