The Northern Ireland Fraud Forum was established earlier this year and is an innovative private-public-third sector
partnership which aims to spread awareness of the dangers of fraud and white-collar crime in Northern Ireland.
The body is comprised of private sector industry professionals like Eversheds Sutherland, Grant Thornton, and FPM-AAB, as well as representatives from public organisations like HMRC and the PSNI.
The inaugural NI Fraud Forum Conference will feature a keynote speech from Emma Luxton, Head of Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance at the Serious Fraud Office, who will outline the current fraud landscape across the UK, the government’s and the SFO’s priorities, and examples of positive outcomes with the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland.
Other speakers include:
Mike Hayley, CEO, Cifas, the UK’s largest cross-sector fraud sharing organisation (Discussing Cifas’s latest fraud data)
Robert Brooker, Chair, London Fraud Forum (Discussing the establishment of a UK-wide Fraud Forum)
Art Mitchell-Urwin, Operations Manager, Cabinet Office PSFA (Discussing the role of the recently formed Public Sector Fraud Authority)
Matthew Howse, Dispute Resolution and Litigation Partner, Eversheds Sutherland Belfast; and Laura Dunseath, Barrister and Legal Director, Eversheds Sutherland London (Discussing recent legal developments in the anti-fraud landscape)
Chris Wynne, Head of Financial Crime Prevention, Danske Bank (Discussing tackling financial crime and raising awareness)
Kevin Newe, Assistant Director, Illicit Finance Strategy Lead, HMRC (Discussing the Economic Crime Plan 2.0)
Ronan Convery, Senior Empowerment Officer, Consumer Council (Discussing their research on fraud across NI)
Wayne Denner, Author and Online Safety Trainer (Discussing online fraud awareness amongst young people)
Aidan Larkin, CEO, Asset Reality (Discussing cryptos and NFTs)
Bill McCluggage, Chair of the NI Fraud Forum, said:
“The Northern Ireland Fraud Forum are thrilled to be hosting our first ever Annual Conference later this month at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast. This comes at a significant period for businesses, organisations of all kinds, and citizens. Firms are trading in particularly volatile and challenging times with rising costs, spiralling inflation, hikes in interest rates, and a looming recession. Threats like fraud and white-collar crime can present often fatal challenges to small and independent businesses which, in turn, threaten livelihoods and workers.
“According to the National Crime Agency, fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in the UK. Fraud offences reported to the National Fraud Investigation Bureau rose by 17% between March 2021 and March 2022, and the number of annual reported fraud cases has now reached a staggering 936,276 offences. The experience of businesses, organisations, and citizens in Northern Ireland is no exception and surely it is now time to collectively do more to challenge this crime epidemic.
“Trade body UK Finance estimates around £7bn is lost to economic crime in the UK every year. The latest statistics from the Republic of Ireland from September also show that fraud crime there has soared by 43% in the last year, driven primarily by banking and online fraud. Fraudsters and criminals are becoming savvier and craftier in their defrauding attempts, with people increasingly bombarded daily by fraudulent texts and phone calls seeking to defraud people and businesses out of their hard-earned money. It’s therefore crucial that businesses, organisations, and households are equipped with the tools and techniques to spot fraud and mitigate against it.
“The NI Fraud Forum Annual Conference will bring together private, public and third sector organisations to outline the current fraud environment, share tips and best practice, and help organisations prevent costly and potentially permanent damages to their operations.”
NI Fraud Forum Chair Bill McCluggage and Eversheds Sutherland Partner and NI Fraud Forum Member Matthew Howse.
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