‘The fight against fraud: A critical review and comparative analysis of the Labour and Conservative government’s anti-fraud policies in the United Kingdom’ Dr. Umut Turksen (Professor in Law & Business)1 and Dr. Nicholas Ryder (Professor in Financial Crime)2 1 Professor Umut Turksen, Kingston University, London. E-mail:
[email protected] 2 Professor Nicholas Ryder, University of the West of England, Bristol. E-mail:
[email protected] 1 “There is clear evidence that fraud is becoming the crime of choice for organised crime and terrorist funding. The response from law enforcement world-wide has not been sufficient. We need to bear down on fraud; to make sure that laws, procedures and resources devoted to combating fraud are fit for the modern age”.3 Introduction Initially, international efforts to tackle financial crimes have concentrated mainly on money laundering and terrorist financing. This is largely due to the United States of America (US) led ‘war on drugs’ and the ‘financial war on terrorism’. Fraud on the other hand has been placed lower in the list of public policy priorities and law enforcement efforts.4 Following the turbulent times we have experienced since the global economic downturn first in 1997 (triggered by the Asian crisis) and later in 2008 (triggered by the bursting of the US subprime mortgage bubble), there is evidence that politicians are changing their stance in tackling a number of fraudulent and malfeasant activities particularly in the banking and financial services sectors. Fraud can be defined as “persuading someone to part with something”,5 which includes “deceit or an intention to deceive”,6 or an “act of deception intended for personal gain or to cause a loss to another party” 7 and it “involves the perpetrator making personal gains or avoiding losses through the 3 Wright, R.