Serious Fraud Office

Available for over a year

Sue MacGregor reunites some of the pioneering investigators from the Serious Fraud Office. Forensic accountant Ian Trumper, policeman Andy Noad and lawyers Robert Wardle, Rosalind Wright and Chris Dickson, the team behind the prosecution of Britain’s largest fraudsters. The investigation and prosecution of large-scale financial fraud has always been a notoriously difficult task for the Criminal Justice system in this country. The financial capital, the city of London, is a well known magnet for international money launderers. There are rogue traders and those who simply exercise dishonest greed, but following the money trail and coming up with the evidence isn’t always easy. In the nineteen eighties the situation became so bad the government considered it a serious threat to the economy. A crime fighting team was set up specifically to deal with the situation and in 1988 the Serious Fraud Office was born. Made up of accountants, lawyers and policemen working as a single unit they have tackled some of the largest financial scandals of the century. The Guinness affair, Blue Arrow, Asil Nadir, Nick Leeson, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International and the Mirror Pension scheme all came within their sights. There were some outstanding achievements, but, their methods were controversial, and in the early nineties after a string of failed prosecutions they were publicly ridiculed and vilified. In the studio, forensic accountant Ian Trumper, policeman Andy Noad and lawyers Robert Wardle, Rosalind Wright and Chris Dickson, the team behind the prosecution of Britain’s largest fraudsters. Producer: Emily Williams Series Producer: David Prest The Reunion is a Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4