Member Article

Short Richardson & Forth deliver financial crime seminar

Fraud, Money Laundering, Bribery, Corruption, Tax Evasion in Newcastle – and all just after breakfast!

Short Richardson & Forth LLP hosted a very successful seminar on financial crime at the Northern Counties Club today. The talk, presented by partner Andrew Swan, focused on a practical view of white-collar crime. Andrew is the head of the Regulation and Financial Crime Unit at the firm. Over 30 delegates enjoyed a light breakfast of bacon sandwiches before being taken on a whistle-stop tour of the real world of financial crime. As Andrew explained: “This is not meant to be scary, but you will find it eye-opening!”

He went on to explore real cases to give a clear understanding of crimes that people only ever read about. He explained that money laundering is not just about cleaning ‘dirty’ money, but can be prosecuted for any type of criminal property, including stolen cars, fake watches and clothes.

He also took the audience through the confiscation process under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and explained how people can lose their assets and life savings through minor errors of judgement.

It wasn’t all high drama. Andrew did share some of his more humorous anecdotes, including a tax criminal investigator referring to himself as “Mr Nice Guy”.

The guests were predominantly professional advisors, with accountants, lawyers and financial advisors from all over the North East. The event was described as: “Very enjoyable, but frightening as to how easy such crimes can be committed.”

Andrew commented: “The seminar was really well received. We have had excellent feedback from all those that attended.”

“The intention of the seminar was to give a real insight into the world of financial crime, so that people are more aware of the pitfalls, particularly when advising clients. Early advice can be invaluable when the warning signs are there. The delegates should now be in a better position to spot issues at an early stage and hopefully avoid situations progressing to the courts.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew Swan .