City law firm, Pinsent Masons compiled their figures to show that within the last year reports of financial crime have doubled. More than 230,000 reports have been made since last year. With the increase of these crimes being reported, we're looking back at some of the biggest accounting fraud cases that have come to light this year.
Back in February, James Bradney co-founder of insolvency firm Bridge and the firm's external accountant, Michael Worrall, pleaded guilty to the charge of fraud. The pair were both charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of conspiracy to committing false accounting. Later, Bradney was charged with a further two counts of false accounting.
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In March, Malcolm MacLean a national co-ordinator for the construction industry helpline for HMRC, was jailed for three-year years after he defrauded the taxman of nearly £360,000. MacLean, along with several directors, was found to have manipulated clients' accounts and falsified documents to cover up their tax frauds.
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In late June, film producer Damita Nikapota was jailed for nearly four years after he made numerous fraudulent VAT repayment claims. Nikapota was found out to be cheating the public revenue of £1.6 million in VAT by claiming to still be involved in the production of a movie called The Flying Scotsman. However, upon investigation it was found that the producer had been removed from the film production.
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In July it was reported that the former head of financial accounting at an NHS Trust, Trevor Cosson, had been sentenced to five years in jail after a £2.2 million fraud. Cosson pleaded guilty to offenses under both 2006 Fraud Act and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He tapped off money from trusts, meant for regular suppliers and put them into personal accounts.
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Pharmacists, Benedict Babundo and Louis Ovonlen, have been jailed for six and a half years after fraudulently claiming £300,000 in VAT repayments. Babundo and Ovonlen lied about exporting cancer and HIV medicines to Nigeria. They created false invoices and falsified documents to support their VAT repayments.
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We recently launched our course Preventing Financial Crime, which will help you as an accountant to gain comprehensive skills in risk management and improve your assessment of risk factors. This course joins our collection of Accounting and Governance courses, which help you to protect your organisation against financial crimes, including Anti-Money Laundering, Forensic Accounting and Ethical Compliance.
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