Written question asked by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Monday, 20 June 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 22 June 2005. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Monday, 27 June 2005 on behalf of the Solicitor General.

Fraud

Question: To ask the Solicitor-General what criminal investigations the Serious Fraud Office is undertaking into cases of fraud by staff working for HM Customs and Excise; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: SFO policy is to neither confirm or deny whether a specific matter has been referred to it, or is under investigation, until such a time as is considered appropriate or necessary.On this occasion it is in the public interest to confirm that I am told there are no current SFO investigations into allegations of fraud by officials of HM Customs and Excise (now HM Revenue and Customs).Any such allegation referred to the SFO would be accepted for investigation if it met the SFO's acceptance criteria and there was evidence to support the allegations. Otherwise it may be investigated by an alternative investigating authority.

Secondary information