Corporate Fraud in UK. Edmonds Marshall McMahon is a unique firm of solicitors and barristers, and we are experts in conducting fraud prosecutions. We commonly advise on company fraud, which is when a company or its employees engage in activities that are illegal or dishonest. Company fraud (otherwise known as corporate fraud) takes many forms, including misrepresenting products and the operation of accounting schemes that inflate a company’s apparent profits. We have significant experience in ensuring that victims of this kind of fraud are financially compensated and that defendants are denied the proceeds of their crime.
Company fraud is part of a wider crisis in the UK. In January 2021, the Royal United Services Institute (“RUSI”), a defence and security think tank, published a paper explaining that fraud in the UK has reached epidemic levels. According to this paper, fraud is the “volume crime of our time”. Notwithstanding increased media attention around the issue, the UK government’s fraud response continues to fail individuals and businesses. Budget cuts to the police and Crown Prosecution Service have limited the prioritisation of fraud, even as reports continue to rise. This state of affairs is at the heart of Edmond Marshall McMahon’s mission – as private prosecutors, we specialise in providing fraud victims with access to justice.
By way of background, although the majority of criminal prosecutions in England and Wales are conducted by public agencies, the right to pursue a private prosecution is expressly set out in statute. It is this power on which Edmonds Marshall McMahon relies in order to bring criminal proceedings on behalf of clients. We regularly implement private prosecution strategies to ensure that those who engage in company fraud are held accountable, as well as achieving compensation for victims.
We understand that this kind of fraud may cause embarrassment to victims, leading them to batten down the hatches and not report crimes. Crucially, however, private prosecutions have a significant deterrent effect on would be fraudsters and sends them a clear message – that private citizens and companies will take decisive action to route them out.
Whatever the fraud, please talk to us (free of charge) so we can advise you on what is possible. As specialist prosecutors, we have the knowledge and resources that could make the difference between your recovering some, or indeed all, of your money.
