Friday High Five

You may not be aware, but this week is International Fraud Awareness Week.

It’s another example to add to the long list of failures of our under resourced law enforcement agencies and regulators to protect decent businesses from the behaviour of bad actors.

I don’t doubt the sincerity of organisations such as the Information Commissioners Office, Companies House, The Serious Fraud Office and the Insolvency Service when they issue press releases speaking about the powers they will deploy to protect the public.

When they do win, the sanctions against dodgy directors can range from long disqualifications to prison.

But what I have discovered over the last two years is that there are plenty of instances where the bad guys run rings around the regulators.

Our story this week about the jail sentences handed to three Manchester-based would-be business gurus came as a result of a private prosecution by a bank.

They were jailed for Contempt of Court, with a large number of victims of their actions in businesses up and down the country wondering whether they in fact have got away with it.

However, as if to prove the point two of them failed to turn up to be sentenced and are now on the run.

What it seems to point to is a regulatory system of company governance that is broken, thus making a mockery of attempts to perform rudimentary due diligence. It shows deficiencies in the insolvency process that can be manipulated and frustrated by obfuscation and non co-operation. But what should worry anyone, any taxpayer, anyone running a business by the rules, is that there is an under-resourced arm of the state with precious little power and capability to protect the public.

I hope this Fraud Awareness Week is a turning point and the focus of greater attention towards making this a great place to do business without fear of being ripped off.