The Serious Fraud Office’s announcement of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with SGL, a subsidiary of Serco Group, is the first DPA to relate to public contracts.
Rahman Ravelli’s Neil Williams explained to The Times why SGL avoiding a prosecution for three offences of fraud and two of false accounting was of significance for other reasons.
Neil outlined how the case showed the extent to which cooperation with the Serious Fraud Office can boost a company’s chances of receiving a more favourable outcome than conviction or a ban on bidding for any other public contracts.
Changes to SGL’s compliance policy and to its senior management played a large part in SGL obtaining the DPA, according to Neil, who says it remains to be seen if this will shape future companies’ attempts to avoid prosecution.
The article can be read here.
