SFO admits fault after raiding Vincent Tchenguiz’ offices

This entry was posted on Monday, December 26th, 2011 at 8:27 pm

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been forced to admit fault after it came to light that it had illegally searched the offices of property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz.

It was revealed on Friday that there were errors in the search warrant the SFO obtained, resulting in an embarrassing setback into the investigation of Mr Tchenguiz and his brother.

Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz were arrested 9 months ago over suspicion of corporate fraud relating to their dealings with the Icelandic bank, Kaupthing. Following a serious financial crisis in Iceland in 2008, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority seized control of the bank, in which Robert Tchenguiz held shares.

Vincent Tchenguiz was able to successfully prove in a judicial review in May of this year that the warrants contained errors and therefore should be quashed, and any of the material seized during the police raid is to be returned.

The Serious Fraud Office, which investigates cases of serious and corporate fraud, has stated that the investigation will continue. Mr. Tchenguiz claimed to be ‘astonished’ when he heard that the SFO plans to continue its inquiry.

A spokesperson for Consensus Business Group, the company run by Vincent Tchenguiz, likened the investigation to a ‘fishing expedition’: “They’re going to go trawling through papers looking for something that isn’t there. We’re perplexed.”

David Jones, a spokesman for the Serious Fraud Office, said: “We presented Mr. Tchenguiz with a letter conceding that there were some errors in the initial search warrant that related to our visits to his premises.” However, he failed to comment on the nature of the errors, citing “confidentiality issues”.

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