How corporates can report serious fraud, bribery and corruption, and how organisations can discuss a self-referral.

The Serious Fraud Office investigates major and complex cases of serious fraud, bribery and corruption.

A corporate self-report should be made directly to our Intelligence Division via email to intelunit@sfo.gov.uk. Information which is not a corporate self-referral will not be assessed or retained. The submitter will receive no reply.

A former City trader previously convicted of rigging the Euribor interest rates has had his fraud conviction overturned.

Christian Bittar, formerly a trader at Deutsche Bank, had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal on Friday after being sentenced to five years in prison for rigging the primary European interest rate, the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), in the run-up to the financial crisis. He previously pleaded guilty to the charge.

https://www.cityam.com/former-city-traders-rate-rigging-conviction-overturned/

The City of London Police is warning businesses and members of the public to stay alert to payment diversion fraud after new analysis revealed victims had more than £101 million stolen over the last financial year.

Payment diversion fraud occurs when criminals manipulate a victim into sending money to a bank account under their control instead of the intended recipient. Criminals commonly gain access to email accounts or create convincing impersonation emails to trick victims into changing payment details.

Over the 2025/26 financial year, Report Fraud received 3,657 reports of Payment Diversion Fraud, a 3 per cent increase compared with the previous year. Although overall reported amount stolen has fallen, victims still reported having more than £101 million stolen.

https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of-london/news/2026/september/criminals-steal-101-million-through-payment-diversion-fraud-as-city-of-london-police-issues-warning-to-businesses-and-the-public/

A businessman was beaten with hammers by masked men who broke into his home and threatened to kill his heavily pregnant wife unless he transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds of cryptocurrency.

Speaking to the BBC, the couple, who want to remain anonymous, described the attack as "horrific" and said they feared for their unborn baby's life.

The attackers left in a car driven by a getaway driver after the man transferred his crypto savings.

Crimestoppers are offering a £10,000 reward for information in the attack, which was captured on home security footage and is being investigated by the police.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6eq84eygz0qo

Today, HMCPSI published its follow-up inspection assessing the Serious Fraud Office’s progress in implementing recommendations from the 2024 disclosure inspection.

The follow-up inspection focuses on the three recommendations that provide the clearest basis for independent assurance on the SFO’s current disclosure arrangements. The inspection aimed to determine whether the SFO had implemented relevant recommendations, embedded changes in operational practice, and established sufficient assurance arrangements to manage disclosure risks.

https://hmcpsi.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/report/serious-fraud-office-progress-on-disclosure/

Repeat offender behind bars following Insolvency Service and police investigations

• Fake doctor and self-styled aristocrat Darren Anderson has been jailed for fraud
• Businesses and individuals were left more than £200,000 out of pocket through Anderson’s actions across 13 companies during 2022 and 2023
• Anderson also ignored company director disqualifications he had received under two separate aliases since 2011

The majority of money laundering arrests involve people under the age of 30, new analysis has found.

The study, from academics at Cardiff University and the University of the West of England, is the first to reveal the scale of money laundering offences across the UK.

https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/3072712-nearly-half-of-money-laundering-offences-in-england-and-wales-involve-people-aged-18-29

Charities often set up fraud controls on paper, but even with the best intentions, fraud can still slip through. As an undergraduate researcher from Royal Holloway, University of London, I interviewed experienced charity auditors and senior charity finance leaders for my dissertation. A recurring theme across these interviews was that gaps tend to appear not where controls are missing, but where they meet.

https://www.icaew.com/technical/charity-community/articles/strong-controls-weak-links-where-charity-fraud-risk-can-emerge

The City of London Police has published its first Report Fraud Annual Assessment today, revealing how fraud continues to impact victims across England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as highlighting the growing threats communities face from increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics.

City of London Police intelligence assessment highlights emerging fraud trends and evolving threats | City of London Police

Warning as investors lose hundreds of thousands of pounds to “Ponzi-style” crypto scheme - GOV.UK

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/warning-as-investors-lose-hundreds-of-thousands-of-pounds-to-ponzi-style-crypto-scheme