U.K. SFO’s Conduct Investigated, Agency Gets New Director
December 18, 2011, 8:05 AM ESTBy Lindsay Fortado and Robert Hutton
(Updates with new director in fourth paragraph.)
Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Cabinet Office investigated allegations of improper conduct at the British agency that prosecutes white-collar crime and corruption after staff members raised concerns.
The probe found no evidence of wrongdoing at the Serious Fraud Office, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Dominic Grieve’s office said in an e-mail yesterday.
“Allegations of improper conduct within the SFO were made by members of staff,” according to the spokeswoman, who declined to be named citing office policy. “These did not concern casework or prosecuting decisions.”
The Attorney General’s Office, which oversees the SFO, said today it appointed David Green, a barrister who was formerly the director of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Fraud Group, to take over as head of the agency.
The investigation focused on corporate-governance issues related to top SFO officials, including Chief Executive Officer Phillippa Williamson, said two people familiar with the probe who declined to be identified because the subject matter isn’t public. The review was prompted when Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell was alerted to concerns raised by an internal whistle- blower. The investigation was conducted by Alex Allan, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and former Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office.
Sam Jaffa, an SFO spokesman, declined to comment. Williamson didn’t answer a call to her office or an e-mail seeking comment, and Jaffa declined to make her available.
‘Economic Crime’
Green will begin the role a four-year term when Current Director Richard Alderman steps down in April, Grieve said in a statement today.
“He joins at a challenging and exciting time for the Serious Fraud Office,” Grieve said. “The government is committed to a better and more coordinated approach to economic crime and is putting the structures in place to effect this.”
Facing dwindling resources from government budget cuts and high-level staff departures, the SFO has closed at least four major investigations over the past two years without bringing any charges.
The future of the agency created a rift earlier this year between the Attorney General and the Home Office, when the latter wanted to abolish the SFO and combine it with a planned national crime agency. The plan was later scrapped and the SFO was given a reprieve.
The SFO, which has been criticized for its prosecution track record and low fines in corruption cases, has said it is concerned bribery investigations would be impaired if it is combined with a national crime agency.
“The SFO is here to stay,” Green said in the Attorney General’s statement. “Over the next few years, the SFO will play a crucial role in the developing anti-fraud strategy.”
--Editors: Christopher Scinta, Anthony Aarons
To contact the reporters on this story: Lindsay Fortado in London at lfortado@bloomberg.net; Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.
