A joined-up approach to fraud gets the best results, says Michael Peacock
William Christopher's recent article on civil fraud (NLJ, 7 November 2008, p 1558) set out, quite rightly, why the first port of call for a victim of fraud should be their solicitor and not the police.
However, in practice, it is not uncommon to be instructed by a client who has already asked the police to investigate the fraud. In such situations, the police are generally extremely wary of the solicitors's role, seeing them as a threat to their own investigations. They tend to actively discourage the immediate pursuit of civil proceedings, worried that they might prejudice the outcome of the criminal case. Their biggest concern is that there might be inconsistencies between the civil and criminal cases which could be exploited by the well-advised defendant.
However, a solicitor who is experienced in dealing with these cases will be able to ensure that the civil claim is pursued in a way that will not hinder any criminal proceedings. Accordingly, there is no reason why a claimant cannot pursue a civil claim at the
