Funding cuts lead to reduction in white collar crime investigations

The number of white collar crime investigations undertaken by the City of London Police has fallen by 28 per cent over the last four years as budget cuts bite, a Pinsent Masons lawyer as warned.

It is feared that funding cuts could be preventing the authorities from following up all of the most credible leads. Over the last five years, the City's police force has seen its budget reduced by 15 per cent.

The number of investigations has dropped from 777 in 2011/12, to 563 last year. There has been a marginal improvement in the last year, however, with an increase of 8 per cent in the number of investigations launched, the firm says. In 2013/14, 520 were conducted, despite the longer term fall.

With Action Fraud, the central body for reporting suspected fraud, receiving over 200,000 calls and emails in 2014, Barry Vitou, a partner and head of global corporate crime at Pinsent Masons opined that fewer investigations do not mean that white collar crime rates are down.

'It is simply another indication that the bodies tasked with tackling the issue are ill-equipped to do so,' he said.

'The sharp decline in investigatory work seems at odds with a backdrop of high value fraud and major corporate scandals across the City and global financial services industry - including convictions for Libor-rigging and international probes into precious metals price fixing,' Vitou added.

'Law enforcement bodies are facing new challenges; the rise and increasing sophistication of cyber-crime has made tackling wrong-doing more difficult than ever,' he continued. 'The government need to be sure that the force is well-resourced enough to deal with the task in hand.'

While encouraging, Vitou said that the recent rise in activity did not excuse the need for increased funding and stronger support from politicians to help the tackle the most serious crimes.

'We've seen some tough sentencing for high-profile criminals recently and the launch of the UK's first anti-corruption plan last year. Politicians now need to make sure that they follow through. Ensuring law enforcement agencies are better-equipped will be crucial.'

Vitou recently criticised the government for funding cuts to the Serious Fraud Office, which, he said, was hampering its ability to investigate suspected white collar crime.

Matthew Rogers is an editorial assistant at Solicitors Journal matthew.rogers@solicitorsjournal.co.uk