Failed fraud prosecutions put spotlight on UK agencies
Publish date: 01 July 2005
Issue Number: 1368
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Tenders
Questions have arisen in the UK about the ability of criminal justice agencies to prosecute complex fraud after the collapse of one of the countrys most expensive criminal prosecutions.
The Vat fraud case is expected to cost taxpayers about £65m, reports The Telegraph. In the wake of the trials collapse, the Attorney-General has said he was to press ahead with plans to abolish juries in complex fraud trials because of jurors\' inability to comprehend complicated financial evidence. However, the decision to halt the prosecution in this latest allegation of major fraud was taken before a jury had been empanelled. The five defendants, all businessmen from Manchester, were freed last month after Mr Justice Crane stayed the prosecution for abuse of process by Customs and Excise. A similar Customs case collapsed last month after the judge at Blackfriars Crown Court in London stopped proceedings. Full report in The Independent
