New SFO head announced as ministers turn to HMRC

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 2:19 pm

A former leading barrister and chief prosecutor for HMRC has been named as the new chief of the Serious Fraud Office in the midst of daunting budget cuts and mounting criticism.

The Financial Times reports that David Green will be sworn in as head of the SFO in April of next year. Mr Green has spent over 25 years working as a barrister and has been largely responsible for corporate fraud prosecutions since 2005. Although budgets are thought to be stretched, he is expected to take home in excess of £170,000 a year.

The introduction of new US style plea bargains and the reform of the SFO’s settlement procedures are expected to be at the top of Mr Green’s objectives in his new position. Although the SFO is facing deep cuts to its budget, extra-territorial prosecutions under the new Bribery Act have seen a widening of the agency’s ability to prosecute for corporate fraud internationally and will add further pressure to the management team.

Elsewhere, Attorney General Dominic Grieve has told MPs that the power to investigate failed banks accused of serious fraud should lie with HMRC. This was in response to a question by Richard Fuller MP who inquired about the criminal sanctions facing failed financial institutions.

Mr Grieve did, however, add: “if there is evidence of criminal conduct, it is in the public interest that this be investigated… and punished”. Concern over the lack of prosecutions by the SFO has been frequently raised in the House of Commons.

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