Rahman Ravelli outlines the challenges facing the next Director of the Serious Fraud Office

Rahman Ravelli has been identifying the tasks facing whoever replaces Lisa Osofsky as head of the agency.

With Osofsky set to step down in August, Law360 asked Rahman Ravelli what the main concerns would be for her successor as Director of the SFO.

They explained that the new Director will have to restore public confidence in the agency. They added that while the SFO does obtain positive results, they have been overshadowed by recent “self-inflicted losses."

Rahman Ravelli said that critics of the SFO should recognise that the SFO is "chronically under-resourced and under-funded" in its battle against wealthy defendants.

They added: "It seems strange to me that we are living through a fraud epidemic and yet the SFO — who are meant to be the UK’s leading enforcement agency when it comes to investigating and prosecuting the most complex fraud cases — is unable to do its job properly."

Rahman Ravelli pinpointed the 10-year SFO investigation into suspicions of corruption and bribery at Eurasian Natural Resources Corp as one of the biggest challenges that the new Director will face. With neither the company or any individuals having been charged so far, and ENRC having brought its own legal action against the SFO, they believe there is “a lot riding on ENRC’’ for the agency.

They say ENRC “will be the biggest call’’ for the new Director. Whoever takes up the post should, Rahman Ravelli argues, have prosecutorial experience and a deep understanding of the UK criminal justice system.

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