Legal Business

A chance to turn the corner for the SFO but a high-stakes test on ‘blockbuster’ cases could define its fate

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Michael West assesses the prospects for the agency after settlement of the Tchenguiz claims

He was always going to have a painfully full in-tray on taking over as head of the troubled Serious Fraud Office (SFO) a little over two years ago, but even against that context, the previous 12 months must have looked something like an annus horribilis to David Green QC. Lows during this period saw the Public Accounts Committee issue trenchant criticism of the body, important investigation documents misplaced and the chaotic collapse of the trial against Victor Dahdaleh.