The CPS’s Economic Crime Strategy 2025, the first of its sort, was introduced to combat what the CPS refers to as ‘a serious and growing area of criminality’. The number of fraud and forgery cases dealt with by the CPS has risen by almost a third since 2011. The CPS estimates that there are 800,000 people a year that fall victim to economic crime, mostly online/identity fraud. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has seen a growth in fraud and scams targeting people online as well as more sophisticated frauds aimed at banks and government departments; the Cabinet Office estimates that between 0.5% and 5% of the government’s £46bn bounceback loan scheme may have been fraudulent. Against this backdrop, and in light of the fact that fraud is now the most commonly experienced crime in the UK, it is not surprising that the UK’s main prosecuting body has sought to ‘beef up’ its capability in prosecuting economic crime, which is part of its remit. Read more