SFO
Definition
The UK Serious Fraud Office: a department of the Crown that both investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud, bribery, and corruption. Its Section 2 powers allow compelled interview, which is a significant tool unavailable to ordinary police in fraud matters.
- Full name
- UK Serious Fraud Office
- Role
- Investigates and prosecutes serious, complex fraud, bribery, corruption
- Special power
- Section 2 compelled interview
- Distinction
- Combines investigation and prosecution in one body
Common questions
What makes Section 2 powers unusual compared to ordinary police powers?+
Section 2 lets the SFO compel a person to answer questions or produce documents, overriding the normal right to silence in criminal proceedings, a tool ordinary police investigating fraud do not have without separate court authorisation.
Why does the SFO both investigate and prosecute, unlike most UK agencies?+
Complex fraud cases benefit from continuity between the investigators who understand the financial detail and the lawyers building the case, so the SFO was structured to combine both functions rather than handing cases to a separate prosecuting body.
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