Dishonesty offences

Statutory fraud offences

Consider the statutory fraud offences. For example:

Fraud by false representation (section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006):

1. Did the accused make a false representation?
2. Was that false representation dishonest?
3. Did the accused intend to make a gain (for themselves or another) or cause loss or expose another to a risk of loss?

Fraud by abuse of position (section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006):

1. Did the accused occupy a position in which they are expected to safeguard the financial interests of another person? For example, a trustee of a pension scheme.
2. Did the accused dishonestly abuse that position?
3. Did the accused intend to make a gain (for themselves or another) or cause loss or expose another to a risk of loss?

The fraud may be against the member in some cases or against the trustees, or others. It's also possible that trustees, directors of employers and administrators were involved in the fraud. 

Consider the scheme asset reductions

Scheme asset reductions are what the scheme has spent or the assets it has transferred elsewhere.For example, it may be a payment to a company regarding a purported investment, commission for an introducer or administrator, or fees and expenses in trying to resolve the issues. 

If you’re a member, we’ll want to know what you think happened to your scheme pension (as that should have been an asset of the scheme), and what you think happened that was dishonest.

If you’re a trustee, we’ll be in touch for more detail on the scheme asset reductions (fees and expenses in particular). Consider which scheme asset reductions you think you can link to an offence involving dishonesty. 

The most relevant information

We do not need a list of all possible offences involving dishonesty. We encourage you to:

• build up a picture based on evidence – where’s the dishonesty, and by who?
• consider whether the scheme asset reductions are attributable to a specific offence involving dishonesty, such as a fraud offence

Thinking it through like this should help you streamline your evidence gathering, so that you share the most relevant information with us.