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Written question asked by Harry Cohen (Labour) on Thursday, 26 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 October 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Fraud

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to ensure the accountability of the City of London police force for its handling of business fraud cases; how many cases it successfully brought to prosecution in each of the last five years; and how many current cases it is dealing with.
Answer

The Police Authority for the City of London Police is the Corporation of London’s Court of Common Council. However, decisions on individual cases are operational matters and solely the responsibility of the Commissioner of Police for the City of London.Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against and found guilty for Fraud and Forgery offences in the City of London police force area from 2001 to 2005 is shown in the table. The Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform is unable to separate business fraud cases from other types of fraud and forgery.I understand from the City of London Police that their Economic Crime Department, which has lead force status for the south east and which investigates all types of economic crime, has an average active caseload of around 300 investigations.

Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for Fraud and Forgery offences, in the City of London police force area, 2001 to 2005¹,²
Proceeded against Found guilty
2001 184 90
2002 210 89
2003 324 104
2004 244 131
2005 198 107
¹ These data are on the principal offence basis.
² Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Source:
RDS-OCJR, Ministry of Justice

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
154347; 464 c645W
Session
2006-07
Subjects
City of London Fraud Police
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk