How can complex frauds be prosecuted more effectively? This is the essential question that the Lord Chancellor has instructed Jonathan Fisher KC to answer within 18 months. This is a moment for blue-sky thinking. Mr Fisher is not impeded by limited terms of reference. He has been granted the opportunity to explore different and unconventional approaches to tackling the problems that have beset prosecutions undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for many years.
Coincident with this potential for a burst of creativity the Bankman-Fried trial finished in New York. Nearly a year to the day after his FTX crypto empire collapsed, Bankman-Fried’s fate was sealed by a jury after a high-profile 18-day trial. This was a fraud prosecution of an individual that was mired in complexity. It appeared to observe due process norms. Yet, despite those conditions, by the standards of the SFO it moved at lightning speed. Understanding how that feat was accomplished deserves Mr Fisher’s close attention.
Cross-country snapshots rarely provide robust
