| By :
Mark Jenner
Fraud is a massive problem, not only in the UK and USA but in most of the leading countries also. The fight against fraud needs to be stepped up, but the trend is to reduce public expenditure these days. This not only impacts agencies such as the police but also the fraudsters themselves will be feeling the pinch! The question is - will this result in an even greater increase in the number of frauds taking place? If the regional economic crime squads employ fewer police officers and agencies such as SOCA are broken up, will the fraudster have less to fear when contemplating his next target. Other agencies are reducing their spending on the fight against fraud. Take the Department for Business Innovation and Skills for example, who are substantially reducing the sums spent investigating companies - meaning that any company set up with the intention of defrauding its customers will be more likely to prosper. The trouble is that when frauds come to trial they run up huge Legal Aid costs for the fraudster. All their legal costs, which in a complex fraud can amount to £100,000s, even several £millions, when all the costs of the legal team are considered. It seems that along with the funding for the regulators, Legal aid is set to be significantly cut also. On a first look this might appear to be balanced. The fraud regulators are unable to deal with as many cases of fraud - but should you get caught you may not be granted the funding needed for an adequate legal defence. Quid pro quo? A better opportunity but with a bigger risk. The problem is likely to be the way in which the funding will be allocated. All fraudsters will be faced with difficulties in obtaining quality represenetation, but the fraud regulatory agencies will be able to choose where they spend their own scant resources in an attempt to get the most for their money. This has always been their way, where previously criticisms have been that resources are always spent on serious crime such as murder, rape and dealing drugs. Frauds were often considered too much work for only a single conviction - one police officer could typically spend a year or more investigating a relatively minor fraud, whereas the same resource could result in successful prosecutions for 100s of burglaries or one or more "serious" crimes. The danger is that the police will investigate the easier frauds, where quick results are possible, leaving the complex frauds alone. This means that businessmen practicing only sharp practice might be targeted - or unfortunate businesses that have failed but are accused of wrongful trading. With less resources to employ a competent defence team it is possible that access to justice will be denied for the unfortunate businessmen as a result of the funding cutbacks and the clever fraudsters will continue to ply their trade.
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