The Serious Fraud Office has recovered more than £400,000 to be returned to victims of an international email fraud almost a quarter of a century after the
crime was committed.
Nine people will now be compensated for losses they suffered in the early 2000s, following an unusual civil recovery process that allowed the SFO to return the money directly to victims despite the absence of a criminal conviction.
The fraud dates back to 2001 and 2002, when Abdullah Ali Jammal, then a director of a retail-depositor bank, ran an email scam from the UK that netted more than £4.4 million. Victims were persuaded that their assistance was needed to help release funds supposedly held overseas, including in Nigeria. In return, they were promised commissions of between 10 and 25 per cent. Instead, many lost tens of thousands of pounds in what is commonly known as an advance-fee fraud.
Eighteen people were defrauded in total. However, Mr Jammal fled the UK before he could be charged, making a prosecution increasingly unrealistic as time passed.
In 2021, the SFO concluded that the exceptional circumstances of the case justified a different approach. Using civil recovery powers, investigators moved to reclaim funds linked to Mr Jammal, which would ordinarily have been transferred to HM Treasury due to the lack of a conviction.
Accounts connected to Mr Jammal were frozen, including more than £150,000 that was due to be sent to the family-controlled Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon. The bank remains under US sanctions for facilitating banking services for a terrorist organisation.
SFO investigators then undertook a global effort to trace victims and secure their agreement to the recovery process. This involved close cooperation with international partners including the Australian Federal Police, Belgian Police, the French Liaison Magistrate, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The case marks a significant shift in how the proceeds of crime can be recovered. Instead of funds being absorbed by the Treasury, victims themselves are receiving compensation directly.
The SFO says it now intends to apply this innovative civil recovery approach to other suitable cases, offering renewed hope to victims of long-running and complex frauds. Photo by Airdrake, Wikimedia commons.