White collar crime prosecutions have decreased dramatically over the last three years despite a rise in reported crimes in this area, according to figures compiled by law firm Pinsent Masons.
The firm reported a drop of 14 percent — from 11,261 in 2011 to 9,700 in 2013. And Pinsent reports that while the number of defendants that have faced prosecution has declined the number of fraud cases reported to the police nearly doubled from 122,240 to 230,845 in the last financial year.
In contrast to the overall decline in prosecutions for white collar crimes, however, prosecutions of cybercrime cases involving offences such as ‘unauthorized access to computer material’ and ‘unauthorized access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences’ have trebled over the last three years, with a 200 percent increase in the number of defendants charged with this crime from 15 in 2011 to 45 in 2013.
“The decline in prosecutions sadly doesn’t mean that there are fewer criminals. Criminals are using complex ways to defraud businesses and individuals, reports have doubled and too few are getting prosecuted,’ said Partner Barry Vitou. “The more sophisticated white collar criminals become, the more resources the police and investigators require. What has happened is the opposite, with the SFO’s budget falling by 40 percent since the credit crunch from £52m to £32m.”
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