An organised crime group that fraudulently obtained over £320,000 through a 'crash for cash' scheme has pleaded guilty to fraud charges, according to the London City police.

Raju Patel and Kamlesh Vadukul, who led the group, submitted insurance claims and applications to a vehicle repair finance service for road traffic collisions that were either staged or never occurred. The remaining eight members either orchestrated the collisions or provided their details to facilitate the fraudulent claims.

An investigation by the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) led to guilty pleas from two members of the group at Birmingham Crown Court:

• Kamlesh Vadukul, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and money laundering.
• Amarjit Dhaliwal, 45, also known as Amo Singh, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

The other members initially denied the charges, but during the first week of their trial, they also submitted guilty pleas:

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/uk/news/auto-motor/organised-crime-group-pleads-guilty-to-crash-for-cash-scheme-522590.aspx

Today the SFO secured its first UWO as it seeks to recover a Lake District property believed to have been purchased with the proceeds of a £100m fraud.

Today at the High Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) secured its first Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), as it seeks to recover a Lake District property believed to have been purchased with the proceeds of a £100 million fraud.

The property is valued at around £1.5 million and is owned by Claire Schools, the ex-wife of the convicted solicitor Timothy Schools, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2022.

The SFO successfully secured an order today to freeze the property to ensure that, if sold, the proceeds are secured. Ms Schools has also been ordered to produce information about how the property was obtained within 28 days. The SFO may use this information to bring a case to seize the house at a later date.

This order follows the confiscation of a further £1 million from Schools in a hearing at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month.

A UWO is an investigative tool used to determine the source of funding for an asset, where there is reasonable suspicion that it was acquired with the proceeds of crime. If the recipient fails to prove that the asset was acquired legitimately, the SFO may apply to seize it at the High Court.

This is the first UWO used by the SFO since they were introduced by parliament in 2017. The SFO is the second law enforcement authority to ever use the tool.

Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said:

"This is a milestone case for the SFO and follows on from last week’s successful £1 million recovery to go back to the victims in this case."

"Wherever criminal assets have been hidden or dispersed, we will progress our investigations with determination and explore new methods to recover funds for victims and the public purse."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sfo-secures-first-unexplained-wealth-order-in-100m-fraud-case

Integrated system aims to boost efficiency and disrupt organised fraud networks.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has announced plans to introduce a unified counter-fraud solution in partnership with Shift Technology.

Scheduled for launch in 2026, the new platform will integrate the IFB’s industry-wide counter-fraud databases into a single system aimed at strengthening fraud detection and streamlining investigative processes across the insurance sector.

What types of fraud are most prevalent in the UK? How are companies seeking to detect and address them? And are they succeeding?

In the two years since we published our last GECS report in 2022, the global fraud landscape has continued to evolve, as threats have escalated hand-in-hand with rising regulation. These shifts have been taking place against a backdrop of increasing global connectivity combined with intensifying geopolitical tensions. The result? Economic crime is now more complex than ever before – and, for organisations worldwide, it has become far more challenging both to create value and protect it.

The UK is not immune to any of these developments, and neither are the organisations based here. Like their global counterparts, they’re having to defend their businesses against an expanding array of increasingly sophisticated criminal adversaries. But while the forces at play are global, a drill-down into our findings reveals some significant nuances that differentiate the fraud risks and dynamics facing UK organisations.

Some examples? Take the UK’s higher prevalence of supply chain and procurement fraud – with twice as many UK businesses having suffered this type of fraud compared to the global average, and experiencing more disruptive impacts from it. Or corruption, where UK organisations are generally more optimistic than companies globally, but more likely to feel corruption is on the rise within their own respective industries. Or mapping of supply chains beyond Tier 1 suppliers for ESG risks, where UK companies are taking a more rigorous approach than the global average, largely driven by regulation.

To learn more, please read our UK analysis of the GECS 2024 findings. The overall message? In common with organisations elsewhere, UK businesses should consider three actions to improve their fraud risk management and compliance. First, strengthening risk assessments. Second, improving the management of risks related to third-parties. Third, leveraging AI, data and analytics more effectively to support compliance, detection and investigations.

The reality today is that fraud risks are ever-present and inevitable. It’s how intelligently your business detects and addresses them that will set you apart as a leader. Our GECS 2024 can help.

The campaign to protect Lincolnshire residents from fraud has been strengthened with Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner signing up to a new victims’ charter.

PCC Marc Jones has made it priority to crack down on fraud and scams and has already launched several projects designed to shield communities from these criminals.

Now he has underlined his commitment by adopting the National Trading Standards Scams Team’s victim charter.

The charter recognises the impact that fraud and scams can have and requires organisations to have victims’ best interests as their primary consideration.

In addition to carrying out additional staff training, organisations signing the new charter commit to the following:

• Support and Empathy
• Dignity and Respect
• No Blame and No Shame
• Clear Communication
• Support for your well-being

All Scottish councils "must learn from the weaknesses" that allowed a council employee’s £1.1 million fraud go undetected over 17 years, the public spending watchdog for local government has said.

Between 2006 and 2023, Michael Paterson, who was employed as a council tax and recovery team leader for Aberdeen City Council, transferred 655 council tax refund payments totalling £1.109m into his own bank account.

The fraud was identified by the council in September 2023. Paterson was charged by Police Scotland in December that year and dismissed by the council. He received a four-year prison sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh in July 2024.

The council said it expects to be able to recover the lost funds, with no loss to the taxpayers whose accounts were affected.

However, in a new report published on Thursday, the Accounts Commission said it is concerned that whilst the council had a system of controls in place, "these were not adhered to and lacked scrutiny".

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24841817.1-million-fraud-council-sends-warning-across-local-government/

Emily Shepperd, chief operating officer of the Financial Conduct Authority, recently unveiled the key themes of the regulator’s five-year strategy for 2025–30 in her speech to the TheCityUK National Conference in Birmingham.

The strategy focuses on creating a fairer and more resilient financial system. As expected, a key focus area involves tackling financial crime, particularly fraudulent activity and money laundering. However, this ambitious plan prompts questions about whether it marks a significant shift or is merely a continuation of previous efforts.

https://www.ftadviser.com/financial-conduct-authority-uk/2025/1/15/is-the-fcas-latest-fraud-strategy-just-recycled-promises/

Charity Commission worked closely with West Midlands Police to support investigation into individuals connected to Sikh Youth UK.

The Charity Commission yesterday welcomed the sentencing of Rajbinder Kaur and Khaldip Singh Lehal.

Rajbinder Kaur has been jailed for 2 years and 8 months after being convicted of money laundering and six counts of theft, amounting to £50,000. This followed her theft of money that had been donated to Sikh Youth UK.

Kaur was also found guilty of knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission, in an attempt to cover up the theft – as was her brother, Khaldip Singh Lehal.

Singh has been given a four-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 80 hours of unpaid work.

It is a significant step for individuals to be convicted for providing the Charity Commission with false or misleading information, under section 60 of the Charities Act 2011, and the sentences underline how seriously the courts take this crime.

The Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into funds held by, and raised in connection with, Sikh Youth UK in October 2018, after West Midlands Police passed on concerns relating to charitable funds raised in the name of the organisation.

The Commission provided crucial evidence to support the police in their investigation and provided written and oral evidence to the court which helped secure the convictions.

https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/regulator+welcomes+sentencing+of+brother+and+sister+after+charity+fraud+10012025122000

Those using the platform Booking.com to book their holidays or accommodation are being warned they could be targeted with emails or messages requesting payments from hotels who have had their account taken over by fraudsters. Between June 2023 and September 2024, Action Fraud received 532 reports from individuals, with a total of £370,000 lost.

Insight from Action Fraud reports suggests the individuals were defrauded after receiving unexpected messages and emails from a Booking.com account belonging to a hotel they had a reservation with, which had been taken over by a criminal. Using this account, the criminals send in-app messages, emails, and WhatsApp messages to customers, deceiving them into making payment and/or requesting credit card details.

The specific account takeovers are likely to be the result of a targeted phishing attack against the hotel or accommodation provider, and not Booking.com’s backend system or infrastructure.

Public Sector Fraud Authority chief also discusses getting the right work-life balance and the rising fraud threat.

What was your highlight of 2024?

Bringing the government counter fraud profession’s Counter Fraud Leadership Programme to life. Ever since I started leading fraud teams 15 years ago, I’ve felt the need for an offer for those leading the fraud response to help them do their jobs – based on the learnings of those who have gone before! It’s taken a few years, with the pandemic in between, to bring this from an idea into a living, breathing year-long qualification with an immersive week at the end. To see it come to life, for it to exist and for participants to be so positive, has been inspirational. An example of something being better than you imagined and being so proud of everyone who worked to bring it to life.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com//in-depth/article/mark-cheeseman-on-achieving-a-15yearlong-aspiration-and-getting-the-right-worklife-balance