Fraud and the English legal system Term Paper

This paper examines the problems associated with prosecuting fraud under the English legal system. It highlights fraud as being of a very different nature to other crimes, and illustrates the problems associated with prosecuting fraud under the English legal system. The discussion argues that fraud is currently particularly hard to prosecute for a number of reasons. Firstly the discussion highlights a recent case of fraud that was detected by the organisation the Cheshire Building Society to illustrate just how hard fraud is to detect and how widespread and diverse it can be. This particular case has yet to go to trial but the identities and professions of the six people who have been charged, as well as there backgrounds, give us a clear indication of just how complicated such cases can be. The discussion then moves on to an overview of how fraud is dealt with by the UK legal system, in particular, highlighting the fact that there is no specific crime of fraud and that prosecution for such crimes often focuses on eliciting repayment rather than criminal charges.