Banks: Forgery

Lord Sikka Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2022 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Sikka]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the letters from the Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Committee to the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Economic Crime Centre on 15 October 2020, how many banks have been (1) investigated, and (2) prosecuted, for forging customer signatures.

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, the National Economic Crime Centre continues to assess the material submitted to it in relation to alleged signatory fraud by banks, as well as information obtained following preliminary inquiries to clarify matters with certain members of the public who raised the issue. The National Economic Crime Centre is making a thorough assessment to determine whether there are grounds for a criminal investigation.

[Lord Sikka (Lab)]

My Lords, I am not really satisfied with the Minister’s reply. Banks have forged customers’ signatures and fabricated evidence on an industrial scale in order to repossess people’s homes and businesses. More than 700 crime reports and 26 lever-arch files of evidence have been submitted to the NECC over the last three years and there has still been no action, as the Minister said. I ask him if he will, first, appoint an independent inquiry into this obfuscation and, secondly, meet me and a delegation of the victims to hear their concerns.

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, that characterisation of the situation is not entirely fair. The NECC is reviewing the evidence submitted to it by the campaign groups. We cannot comment further at this stage, recognising the NECC’s operational independence. Once it has finished its review, it will communicate its findings. The noble Lord referred to the 26 lever-arch files; these actually contain 10,000 pages of evidence in seven staggered submissions, the last set of which was delivered in March 2021. This was subsequently referred to the various subject-matter experts at the SFO and the FCA. These are complex matters and they take time.