The SFO has said it will show no mercy against those breaking fraud laws.

Fraud laws have received a major shake up and businesses have been sent a stark warning to be weary of the “hidden danger”.

New failure to prevent fraud offence, which came into effect today , mean firms could face prosecution from fraud committed by employees – even if management was unaware of it.

Large firms will be held accountable over their internal anti-fraud measures and businesses can be held criminally liable if an employee commits fraud that benefits the company with no reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place.

Laura Ford, partner and UK corporate crime head for DLA Piper : “The key thing for businesses right now is to double and triple-check if they’re in scope.

“Companies in the UK an

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