Ebola virus a threat

"The risk to UK travellers and people working in [affected countries] of contracting Ebola is very low but we have alerted UK medical practitioners about the situation in West Africa and requested they remain vigilant for unexplained illness in those who have visited the affected area. "It is important to stress that no cases of imported Ebola have ever been reported in the UK and the risk of a traveller going to West Africa and contracting Ebola remains very low since Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an...

Read More

Massive increase in Brits abroad drug arrests

DRUG arrests of Britons in Spain have soared, with an incredible 68% increase on the previous year. In total, 708 Brits have been arrested overseas on drug charges already this year – a shocking 173 of which were in Spain, according to the UK’s Foreign Office. A worrying trend is the reported rise in the use of a party drug named ‘Cannibal’ – due to its tendency to dramatically increase aggressiveness. It is apparently being distributed widely in...

Read More

Forest fire in Casares

FOREST fire raged today near Casares. The fire was very near the site of Manilva’s Roman baths, inland from Sabinillas. Three helicopters and an aircraft were sent by Infoca in response, and emergency services rushed to the scene. A second fire station was reported to have sent emergency response teams as suppo...

Read More

EU Must Investigate CIA European Prisons Case

EU member states should carry out a thorough investigation into CIA-run prisons in Europe, where the inmates were subjected to torture, Russian diplomat Konstantin Dolgov said Monday. "Human rights activists are reasonably demanding the government of Poland to finally conduct an effective investigation into secret CIA prisons on its territory. Similar steps should be taken by other EU member states on which territories CIA torture camps operated," the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for Human Rights wrote on his Twitter page....

Read More

Lionel Messi to be prosecuted for alleged tax evasion

A Spanish court will push ahead with prosecuting the Barcelona forward Lionel Messi for alleged tax evasion despite a recommendation from the public prosecutor the charges be dismissed. The prosecutor argued in June that Messi’s father Jorge was responsible for the family’s finances and not the four-times World Player of the Year. However, the court in Barcelona has decided that Lionel Messi could have known about and approved the creation of a web...

Read More

London fraudster Fizzy jailed for '£30m' lottery scam

A fraudster, named "Fizzy" because of his love for champagne, has been jailed for conning people out of their life savings with a bogus lottery scam. Frank Onyeachonam, 38, of Canning Town, east London, ran the UK-end of a global scam that was orchestrated from his native Nigeria. The Old Bailey heard how he extracted up to £600,000 from pensioners to fund a luxurious lifestyle. He was jailed for eight years for charges of conspiracy to defraud....

Read More

Amber Gold affair is one of the biggest financial scandals to hit Poland since the fall of communism in 1989.

It was pretty much all the money Bozena Oracz had after a working life as an accountant: the equivalent of $15,000. She placed it in a fund investing in gold, with the hope of paying for her daughter's studies and getting treatment for a bad knee.Those dreams were dashed when she discovered she had fallen victim to an elaborate fraud scheme that has left thousands of Poles, many of them elderly, facing financial ruin.The so-called Amber Gold affair is one of the biggest financial scandals to hit Poland since the fall...

Read More

Former fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir has been found guilty of three counts of theft by an Old Bailey jury, which is still considering a further nine counts.

Asil Nadir faced 13 counts of theft over the collapse of his Polly Peck business empire (Picture: AP)The 71-year-old, from Mayfair, is accused of looting his Polly Peck business empire of £34million between 1987 and 1990.Nadir, who was cleared of one count of theft by the jury of three women and seven men, fled Britain in 1993 but returned in 2010.Mr Justice Holroyde has told the jury at the Old Bailey that he will accept verdicts of nine to one...

Read More

A most-wanted list of 20 alleged tax-dodgers accused of fleeing the UK while owing the Treasury millions has been issued in an appeal for help to track them down.

 Names and pictures of the fugitives have been published by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the first time. They include Hussain Chohan, 44, believed to be in Dubai, who was convicted at Birmingham crown court for his role in a £200m fraud, part of which involved importing 2.25 tonnes of tobacco worth £750,000 in duty. Chohan was given 11 years for smuggling and fraud offences and for failing to appear in court. He is also subject to a £33m confiscation order.Wayne Joseph Hardy, 49, believed to be in South Africa, was convicted...

Read More

'Bomb detector' maker Jim McCormick faces fraud charges

businessman who sold a bomb-detecting device to 20 countries, including Iraq, has been charged with fraud, Avon and Somerset Police said. Jim McCormick, 55, has been on bail for two-and-a-half years while police examined the sale of the device. A BBC Newsnight investigation in 2010 showed the ADE-651 did not work and led to the British government banning its export to Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr McCormick will appear at City of London Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Avon and Somerset Police said that Mr McCormick would face six charges including...

Read More

Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reopened its investigation into collapsed hedge fund Weavering Capital,

Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reopened its investigation into collapsed hedge fund Weavering Capital, just weeks after damages of $450 million were awarded against the fund's manager in a civil case in the High Court. The decision marks a U-turn by the fraud agency after it ended a 2-1/2 year probe into Weavering last September, saying there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. Investors were left with hundreds of millions of dollars of losses when the Weavering Macro fund collapsed during the credit crisis. The fund was...

Read More

Organised investment fraud cost Aussies $113m

The Australian Crime Commission has estimated that 2600 Australians have lost more than $113 million due to investment fraud, in the last five years. The findings come in a new report, published yesterday, titled Serious and Organised Investment Fraud in Australia (PDF). The report was put together by Taskforce Galilee, a consortium of 19 government departments, including the Crime Commission, the Attorney-General's Department, the Australian Tax Office, the Department of Human Services and the Australian Communications and Media Authority. In...

Read More

Businessmen Thomas Scragg and Paul Phillips jailed for £34m fraud

Two men who carried out a £34m tax and VAT fraud by laundering cash through the construction industry have been jailed. Thomas Scragg, 56, of Solihull, West Midlands, and Paul Phillips, 60, of Derbyshire, set up numerous companies over five years as part of the fraud. Carl and Anthony Johnson, 49 and 41, from Wolverhampton have also been found guilty of money laundering. The men spent thousands on hotels, homes and expensive cars, police said. Reporting restrictions around the case have now been lifted following the conviction at Birmingham...

Read More

Futures Brokerage PFG Best Freezes Accounts Following Discovery Of Accounting Irregularity

Update 3: Russ Wasendorf Sr., the founder and CEO of PFGBest, reportedly attempted to commit suicide this morning outside the corporate headquarters in rural Cedar Falls, company officials confirmed Monday afternoon. Update 2: PFGBest had $400MM in customer segregated funds at the end of April. Is JPMorgan about to "discover" another $400 million in Q2 "profits"? Update: PFGBest Plans 'Several Hundred' Layoffs, Spokeswoman Tells Dow Jones - Dow Jones. Sounds like a good idea in the facec of liquidation Just out from futures broker PFG Best to...

Read More

The Libor fixing scandal is set to explode across the continent in the coming weeks as it emerged that German regulators have launched an intensive probe into Deutsche Bank

The Libor fixing scandal is set to explode across the continent in the coming weeks as it emerged that German regulators have launched an intensive probe into Deutsche Bank – one of the City's biggest employers – over the affair. BaFin, the country's financial watchdog, is said to have moved its existing investigation into the bank to the status of a "special investigation process" – indicating potential serious breaches. The results are expected by the middle of this month, Reuters reported, citing multiple sources. While the UK's Financial...

Read More

Serious Fraud Office launches Libor investigation

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it has formally launched a criminal investigation into the rigging of inter-bank lending rates. Earlier this week, it said it was considering whether prosecutions would be possible. An SFO spokesperson confirmed that a dedicated case team had now started work. Its involvement follows an investigation by US and UK regulators into the manipulation of Libor. That resulted in a record fine for Barclays, who last week agreed to pay £290m in penalties after its traders tried to rig inter-bank lending...

Read More

Woman who jumped 35 floors to death at Las Vegas hotel had been sought for fraud

 woman wanted on fraud and theft charges jumped 35 floors to her death at a Las Vegas hotel just as two criminal investigators entered her room to arrest her, according to law enforcement documents. A search warrant released Friday shows investigators from the Secretary of State Office’s Securities Division forced their way into Elizabeth DeMaria’s room at the MGM Grand on Tuesday and saw her throw a laptop computer off the balcony before jumping herself. 13 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post Gallery Olympic track trials, Democrats...

Read More

Dykstra agrees to plead guilty to bankruptcy fraud

Former New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra has agreed to plead guilty to three counts stemming from a bankruptcy fraud case in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Dykstra will plead guilty to one count each of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office. Dykstra faces up to 20 years in federal prison. It's not immediately known when his next court date will be. Dykstra, who bought a mansion once owned by hockey star Wayne Gretzky, filed for bankruptcy...

Read More

Fraud Ring In Hacking Attack On 60 Banks

Sixty million euro has been stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber bank raid after fraudsters raided dozens of financial institutions around the world. According to a joint report by software security firm McAfee and Guardian Analytics, more than 60 firms have suffered from what it has called an "insider level of understanding". "The fraudsters' objective in these attacks is to siphon large amounts from high balance accounts, hence the name chosen for this research - Operation High Roller," the report said. "If all of the attempted fraud...

Read More

Asil Nadir arrives at the Old Bailey with his wife Nur to face 66 charges of theft and fraud.

 Photograph: Nicholas RazzellPolly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir fled Britain because he was a broken man with no hope of a fair trial over allegations that he stole nearly £150m from the collapsed firm, the Old Bailey heard .Nineteen years after he left for Northern Cyprus, the 71-year-old broke his silence as he took the stand in his fraud trial.Nadir told the jury he left Britain on 4 May 1993 after his mental health collapsed, he was...

Read More

Pensions consultancy reports huge increase in pension scheme fraud

The annual report, from consultants Baker Tilly, recorded a 55% increase in pension schemes reporting fraudulent activity. Of the survey respondents 19% said they had experienced cases of fraud, compared to 12% of respondents in 2011. “Awareness of the issue may be rising against a backdrop of more pension frauds hitting the headlines, including high-profile investigations involving illegal cash transfers, false schemes, money laundering and bribery allegations,” it said. The accuracy of member data was considered the most vulnerable area for fraud...

Read More

Three senior businessmen who cooked up an elaborate scheme to siphon almost £9 million from Sainsbury’s in a corrupt potato deal, were jailed today.

John Maylam, right, entered into a corrupt deal with David Baxter, left, operations director at Greenvale, which supplies half of Sainsbury's potatoes Photo: TONY PALMER John Maylam, 44, a senior buyer for the supermarket chain, accepted almost £5 million in bribes from a supplier, which he “frivolously” spent on lavish holidays to Monaco and the South of France, a top of the range Aston Martin and in luxury hotels such as Claridge's.He...

Read More

EU cookie implementation deadline is today

A year after its implementation in May 2011, the European Commission's Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive will finally start to be enforced as of tonight, meaning visitors to websites are required to be informed of, and given choice over, the site's intentions to store their data in cookies. Though there has been fierce opposition to the directive, some companies, such as the BBC, Channel 4 and the Guardian, have now begun implementing measures that range from multiple user choices in the level of information shared with the site,...

Read More

Under European Union law, Greece cannot leave the euro.

That is the theory. But in practice, any protection the law offers investors could be difficult to enforce, according to lawyers trying to protect their corporate clients against the upheaval sure to follow if Greece defaults on its debts and adopts a new currency. So their advice is blunt: Remove cash and other liquid assets from Greece and prepare to take a short-term hit on any other investments. “My personal view is that it is irrational for anyone, whether a corporation or an individual, to be leaving money in Greek financial institutions,...

Read More

Former Lloyds worker Jessica Harper in £2.5m fraud charge

A former head of security at Lloyds Bank has been charged in connection with an alleged £2.5m fraud. Jessica Harper, 50, of Croydon, south London, is accused of submitting false invoices to claim payments, between September 2008 and December 2011. At the time she was working as head of fraud and security for digital banking and allegedly made false claims totalling £2,463,750. Ms Harper will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 31 May. She has been charged with one count of fraud by abuse of position. The bank, which is now 39.7% state-owned...

Read More

Miami Massage Clinic Owner Accused Of Insurance Fraud

The owner of a Miami massage clinic has been charged with insurance fraud. Thirty year old Judith Gonzalez is accused of billing insurance companies nearly $250,000 in fraudulent claims and coaching patients on how to commit personal injury protection fraud. Also charged in the probe were a physician’s assistant and 14 patients. Gonzalez, who is the owner of the Flamingo Health Corporation, has operated several other clinics. The state Division of Insurance Fraud and the Miami-Dade Public Department’s Public Corruption Investigation Bureau...

Read More

Donor who fled over fraud charges is set to return to Britain

Nick Clegg defended his party's decision to hold on to the £2.4m donated by the millionaire fraudster Michael Brown, who is back in Europe and facing extradition to the UK. Mr Brown was flown from the Dominican Republic to Madrid at the weekend and is now awaiting return to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant. The fraudster achieved national fame when he gave £2.4m to the Liberal Democrats to see them through the 2005 general election. No other Liberal Democrat backer has been able to come near to matching his munificence, and yesterday Mr...

Read More

Australia’s parliamentary speaker, Peter Slipper, stepped aside after allegations of sexual harassment and expenses fraud

Australia’s parliamentary speaker, Peter Slipper, stepped aside after allegations of sexual harassment and expenses fraud, weakening Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s grip on power and ability to pass legislation. Deputy Speaker Anna Burke, a lawmaker from Gillard’s Labor party, will replace Slipper as he contests the claims, he said in a statement yesterday. He denied allegations in a Federal Court lawsuit that he made “unwelcome sexual advances” toward a male adviser and misused taxpayer-funded travel vouchers. Enlarge image Julia Gillard, Australia's...

Read More

Swiss arrest former SNC-Lavalin executive for alleged corruption

In a major strike against alleged corruption involving Canadian construction giant SNC-Lavalin in North Africa, Swiss authorities have arrested former top executive Riadh Ben Aïssa, who parted ways with the company last February. The allegations concern “corruption, fraud and money laundering related to business dealings conducted in North Africa,” Jacqueline Buhlmann of Switzerland’s federal prosecution agency, the Office of the Attorney General, confirmed to the Toronto Star. Word of the arrest of Ben Aïssa, who had close ties to the regime...

Read More

Credit card fraud websites shut down on three continents

Three men have been arrested and 36 criminal websites selling credit card information and other personal data shut down as part of a two-year international anti-fraud operation, police have confirmed. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), working with the FBI and US Department of Justice, as well as authorities in Germany; the Netherlands; Ukraine; Australia and Romania, swooped after identifying the sites as specialising in selling card and bank details in bulk. The move comes as a blow to what is a growing black market for stolen financial...

Read More

A4e faces new fraud investigation

 The government has launched an investigation into an allegation of attempted fraud against the welfare-to-work company A4e. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it had been made aware of an allegation of attempted fraud in relation to a mandatory work activity contract with the firm, which is already facing a police investigation in relation to previous allegations. A statement said: "As a result of this new allegation, DWP has immediately commenced its own independent audit of all our commercial relationships with A4e. "We...

Read More

The shooting of three IRA members by the SAS in March 1988 is linked to a major review commissioned by the Prime Minister David Cameron

 The shooting of three IRA members by the SAS in March 1988 is linked to a major review commissioned by the Prime Minister David Cameron, it has emerged. Sir Desmond de Silva , PC,QC, a member of the Gibraltar Bar, was asked by the Prime Minister to chair a Review into the assassination of a well-known Belfast lawyer - Patrick Finucane, in 1989. As this case has had attached to it allegations of state collusion in the murder Sir Desmond’s Review will involve an examination of the activities of the intelligence services, the police and the...

Read More

Britain's biggest ever Ponzi scheme Kautilya Pruthi faces 14 years in jail

 Kautilya Pruthi, 41, swindled investors out of £38m under a scheme that resulted in massive contractual losses. Among the 800 victims were former England cricketer and Strictly Come Dancing star Darren Gough and Unchained Melody singer Jerome Flynn, who are rumoured to have lost as much as £1m each. Pruthi blew £10m in three years renting luxury homes across the South East, buying Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Jaguars, while lavishing more than £370,000 on his lovers. He confessed to fleecing investors in January and John Anderson,...

Read More

Allen Stanford faces decades behind bars after being convicted of a $7 billion fraud that snared investors in 113 countries

 A MONTH after Sir Fred Goodwin was stripped of his title for leaving Royal Bank of Scotland shredded, another erstwhile knight of the financial-services realm has been put in his place—this time a jail cell. Allen Stanford faces decades behind bars after being convicted of a $7 billion fraud that snared investors in 113 countries, from Latin America to Libya. When in 2008 the sky fell in on Bernard Madoff, the only fraudster to have taken investors for more, the Texas-born Mr Stanford was still swaggering. He had done so much for Antigua,...

Read More

San Diego tax preparer for the wealthy accused of ordering hit on 2 witnesses in fraud trail

 former Internal Revenue Service agent whose tax preparation business catered to a wealthy clientele is accused of ordering at least two former customers killed as they prepared to testify against him on fraud charges. Federal prosecutors say the targets were key witnesses against Steven Martinez, 50, who was charged last year with stealing $11 million by preparing bogus tax returns for his customers. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post Martinez’s limousine driver — Norman Russell Thellmann, 64 — was charged Monday with conspiracy...

Read More

Ponzi fraud: two men found guilty of involvement in £115m UK scam

Two men have been convicted of involvement in the UK's largest Ponzi fraud, which saw hundreds of people – among them the former cricketer Darren Gough and the actor Frances de la Tour – lose £115m. John Anderson, 46, and Kenneth Peacock, 43 were found guilty of unauthorised regulated activity at Southwark crown court in London on Monday, but were cleared of one count each of fraud. The jury is still deliberating over allegations that they deceived investors. The scheme's mastermind, Kautilya Pruthi, 41, of Wandsworth, London, has pleaded guilty...

Read More