Records held by the Crown Prosecution Service can provide an analysis of the outcome of proceedings in defendant cases where the principal offence with which the defendant was charged was either fraud or forgery. The following table shows, for the four year period since 2005-06 for which figures are available, the number of defendants in which the principal offence was fraud or forgery, together with the outcome of proceedings. Outcomes are divided into convictions, including guilty pleas as well as convictions after trial; and unsuccessful outcomes, comprising all other outcomes.
The broad category of fraud and forgery includes cases where the principal offence charged was contrary to the Fraud Act; bankruptcy offences; forgery and counterfeiting; and fraud and forgery associated with vehicle or driver records.
Convictions Unsuccessful outcomes Number Percentage Number Percentage Total 2005-06 6,547 84.8 1,176 15.2 7,723 2006-07 6,404 86.2 1,024 13.8 7,428 2007-08 11,056 89.7 1,275 10.3 12,331 2008-09 12,919 90.0 1,434 10.0 14,353
The following table shows how many people have been convicted of fraud offences in each of the last 10 financial years1, following prosecutions brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO):
1 The statistics for the 2008-09 financial year have not been finalised, and therefore we cannot provide data for the number of people convicted in this year.
Financial year Number of convictions 2007-08 17 2006-07 15 2005-06 13 2004-05 37 2003-04 20 2002-03 17 2001-02 10 2000-01 54 1999-2000 12 1998-99 27
Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) was created as an independent Government Department on 18 April 2005, data before this cannot be provided.
RCPO have defined "fraud" offences as those relating to VAT, direct tax, tax credits and excise and the following table shows the figures for the last four financial years.
Number of convictions 2005-06 455 2006-07 558 2007-08 409 2008-09 415