Insights

The High Court in London has granted a group litigation order which will allow sub-postmasters to challenge the Post Office. Since the early noughties, financial irregularities at Post Offices across the country have led to many sub-postmasters losing their jobs and being forced to repay financial shortfalls. Some were prosecuted for fraud, theft and false accounting. The group litigation order allows individuals who have been affected by the controversy to join the litigation until 26th July 2017.

This month saw the acquittal of three men at Norwich Crown Court who were charged with conspiracy to defraud.  A not guilty verdict was returned after a lengthy 9-week trial.

It would appear that the BHS debacle which began in 2016 is nowhere near its conclusion. Dominic

In a news release published on 10 April 2018, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced its intention to use artificial intelligence in all new investigations. The organisation said its new AI system, which automates document analysis, will scan millions of documents and be able to detect patterns, remove duplicates, group information by topic and eventually sift for relevance. The new ‘robot’ was trialled in the Rolls-Royce case to detect material that might attract legal professional privilege in around 30 million documents. This was the first criminal case in the UK to make use of AI, and it was hailed a success by the SFO.

It's certainly not news to us that Cyber Fraud has been increasing rapidly over the last few years, however, it has been confirmed in a recent annual global fraud and risk survey conducted by Kroll's. The report shows a gradual incline since 2012, with 86% of companies worldwide reporting at least one incidence of cybercrime in 2017. This is not surprising given the sheer pace technology is advancing. With organisations racing to embrace innovations for fear of being left behind, both the organisation and individuals are left open to fraud. How businesses plan for fraud will make a difference in the long-term for the security of their business interests as well as their clients' data and assets.