Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Serious Fraud Office: Proceeds of Crime

Thursday 5 November 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Serious Fraud Office secured more than 13 million in new financial orders against criminals in 2019-20.
  • Payments received against previous orders totalled more than 7 million in 2019-20.
  • Covid-19 has caused delays in the court system but the SFO has continued to progress its proceeds of crime work.

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Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew Jones Con
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

No specific context or incident is provided, but the question seeks an assessment on the SFO's effectiveness.

Question

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Serious Fraud Office in recovering the proceeds of crime.

Answer from Suella Braverman

In 2019-20, the Serious Fraud Office secured more than £13 million in new financial orders against criminals it investigated, with payments received against previous orders totalling more than £7 million. That strong performance has continued this year. In July, the SFO secured confiscation orders totalling £5.45 million against former Afren employees, and in September, the SFO used for the first time a listed asset recovery order to recover £500,000-worth of jewellery in a long-running mortgage fraud case.

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Q2 Andrew Jones Con
Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The question follows up on the first, addressing the specific impact of the pandemic on the SFO's operational capabilities.

Question

I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that answer, and it is very encouraging to see the efforts being taken to make sure that crime does not pay. What has been the impact of covid-19 on the SFO's capacity to recover crime proceeds?

Answer from Suella Braverman

I am grateful for my hon. Friend's question. While covid-19 has obviously had an impact on the court system and caused some delays in obtaining and enforcing court orders, the SFO has continued to progress its proceeds of crime work, successfully obtaining confiscation orders and using new asset recovery powers to recover money in a long-running fraud case. Its ability to maintain operational effectiveness in the face of the challenges posed by covid-19 was recognised in the report by the inspectorate on the SFO's response to the pandemic.

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