ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a working-class overview of the English legal system, explaining the practical legal problems faced in fraud investigations, and their solution. There are two common threads to legislation regarding fraud. The first is the companies – and their managers – are being held to ever higher standards of compliance, while the necessary tools are being removed. The second point is that the application of the criminal law to fraud has been eroded to the point of being a joke. Victims have to fend for themselves, and that is why they need to retain good lawyers and investigators and turn to the civil law. Fraud victims have rights of recovery under both the civil and criminal law, although many completely overlook the former, and thus reduce their chances of recovery. In England, people accused of crimes are required to provide details of any alibi they intend to develop in their defence.
