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UK fraud office to investigate Madoff's UK businesses for criminal offenses

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Thursday announced that it will open an investigation into the UK business operations of US financier Bernard Madoff to determine whether any criminal offenses have been committed in the UK. The focus will be on victims in the UK, and the SFO has asked that anyone involved with Madoff's UK businesses come forward to assist in the investigation. SFO director Richard Alderman said:This is a good example of the SFO's new, faster, approach to tackling fraud. The public say they want us to take early action and this is what we are doing. We will work closely with other law enforcement agencies to discover the truth behind the collapse of these huge financial structures. And we again ask for help from ex-employees and others.Madoff was charged last month with securities fraud after he allegedly told two employees that his investment advisory business was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme." UK financial firm Bramdean Alternatives Limited has raised concerns about the US financial regulatory process after its value dropped by more than 35 percent following news of its exposure to the fraud. In the week following Madoff's charges, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox said that he would launch an immediate investigation into how the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Bernard Madoff went undetected for so long. On Monday, the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee began hearings in an investigation into the SEC's failure to detect the fraud scheme. On Tuesday, Assistant US Attorney Marc Litt urged that Madoff, who is currently free on $10 million bail, be jailed for allegedly mailing valuable jewelry to family members in violation of a court order prohibiting him from disposing of or concealing any assets.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 08, 2009 (boomark / email).