Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s attempts to disband the Serious Fraud Office undermined the agency and led to resources being diverted from fighting financial crime, its former head has said.
At an event* this week, David Green spoke for the first time since his departure in April last year about the pressure the SFO faced during a government attempt to disband it that ended up being aborted. In his remarks, he also criticized banks for only cooperating with law enforcers when it suited them.
“In terms of serious fraud, I’m now free to say that I had spent at least 25 percent of my time as director of the SFO defending attacks from the home secretary and later prime minister, who was completely obsessed with getting rid of the SFO.”
