Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether he has sought ministerial representations in a public interest consultation exercise under section 4(e) of the Protocol between the Attorney General and the Prosecuting Bodies with regard to any cases currently being dealt with by one of the prosecuting bodies.
Answered by Robert Buckland
It is my department’s usual policy not to comment on any live cases.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2014 to Question 207315, whether a Shawcross exercise has been conducted in relation to Serious Fraud Office investigations since the date of that Answer; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
It is my department’s usual policy not to comment on any live investigation. In the period referred to there have been no Shawcross exercises in respect of any concluded SFO cases.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether he has issued a direction under 4(b) of the Protocol Between the Attorney General and the Prosecuting Departments to the Serious Fraud Office on a case under investigation by that office in the last four months; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Buckland
It would not be appropriate to give a running commentary on SFO investigations. I am aware of the provisions within paragraph 4(b)4 of the Protocol, which state that if any such direction were to be made then I would make a report to Parliament, so far as was compatible with national security.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions the prosecuting authorities have offered a company the opportunity to enter into Deferred Prosecution Agreement negotiations in the last five years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) became available to prosecutors on 24 February 2014. The DPA Code of Practice sets out the procedure to be followed. Letters of invitation to a company to enter into DPA negotiations are confidential.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many requests the Serious Fraud Office has received for mutual legal assistance in relation to corruption from which countries in each of the last four years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) does not receive Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) requests directly, but in appropriate cases the United Kingdom Central Authority (UKCA) will refer an MLA request to the SFO for execution. the table below details the number of requests for mutual legal assistance in relation to corruption have been referred to the SFO by the UKCA in each of the past 4 years.
2010 10
2011 9
2012 11
2013 14
A breakdown by country is not provided as it may lead to the identification of an individual MLA request and it is Government policy neither to confirm nor deny the existence, content or status of any individual MLA request.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many self-reports from companies relating to bribery the Serious Fraud Office has received since its submission to the OECD Phase 3 Report on Implementing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, published in March 2012; and how many of those reports relate to (a) current and (b) closed investigations.
Answered by Robert Buckland
I refer the Right Honourable gentleman to my answer of 4 September, Official Report, Column 290W.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many Suspicious Activity Report intelligence packs relating to corruption in which countries the Serious Fraud Office has received from the National Crime Agency in the last four years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The National Crime Agency does not routinely disseminate Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the Serious Fraud Office.
The SFO has direct access to the SARs database through a secure online portal which it regularly searches to assist any investigation into financial crime including corruption.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many self-reports from companies have been made under (a) the Bribery Act 2010 and (b) other corruption legislation in the last 12 months.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Self-reports are not necessarily made relating to specific legislation, and it is for the prosecutor to determine the relevant legislation in each case when considering charging.
Further, given the small number and seriousness of cases investigated by SFO, it would not be desirable to provide a breakdown of this data because of the need to protect individuals and the risk of prejudicing investigations.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many Shawcross exercises have been conducted in relation to the SFO's investigations in the last two years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
None.
Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many applications for a preliminary hearing for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (a) the Director of Public Prosecutions and (b) the Serious Fraud Office have made since 24 February 2014.
Answered by Robert Buckland
No such applications have been made so far.