Suing on behalf of the king
23 May 2007 in International, Investigations The recently published Home Office consultation document, on how to improve the recovery of criminal assets, floats the possibility of the introduction to the UK of an equivalent to the Qui Tam provisions in the USA False Claims Act.
These provisions enable the private citizen who becomes aware of a past or present fraud against the government, e.g., tax evasion, benefits fraud etc., to sue the alleged perpetrator on behalf of the Crown. The government shares the damages recovered with the private citizen, who may receive up to 30% of the recovery.
The same consultation document records that the 200,000 suspicious activitiy reports filed annually with the Serious Organised Crime Agency have a median value of £10,000 and a mean value of £36,000, with enquiries suggesting that the grounds for suspicion are well founded in up to 40% of cases. On can but wonder over the extent to which these figures would change if a de minimis reporting limit was introduced.
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