Fraud office seeks £19m for ‘big’ cases

The UK Serious Fraud Office sought an extra £19m (€23m) from the government to pay for “blockbuster” cases including a probe into manipulation of benchmark interest rates.

The SFO needs the almost 60% increase in funding to “meet an urgent cash requirement on existing services,” according to a statement from the attorney general’s office. The money would go to the agency’s probes on Libor, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Barclays, as well as potential litigation costs incurred over a collapsed case involving property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz.

While the SFO’s budget plunged to £32m in 2013-2014 from £52m in 2008, the agency has a “blockbuster funding” agreement with the Treasury that allows it to ask for a top-up for important cases. The SFO previously received £3.5m in 2012 to help fund its investigation into the rigging of the London interbank offered rate benchmark, or Libor.