The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped a lawsuit against three former G4S executives whom they accused of defrauding the Justice Department over a prisoner-tagging contract.
Richard Morris, Mark Preston and James Jardine were due to stand trial in 2024.
They were charged with seven counts of fraud involving alleged misrepresentations to the Justice Department between 2009 and 2012.
But the prosecutor said the SFO is not offering any evidence against them.
The three men all worked in the company’s welfare and justice
They were due to be tried next year – 10 years after the SFO began its investigation
- Former G4S executives accused of fraud
Following his acquittal, Mr Morris said he was “delighted” and added that the allegations against him were “clearly false”.
“That it has taken 10 years for the SFO to acknowledge this is scandalous,” said Mr. Morris.
He described the Serious Fraud Office’s case as “flawed”.
Lawyers working for Mr Jardine said: “Once again the SFO has squandered millions of pounds of taxpayer money while the lives of three men have been ravaged and put on hold for almost a decade.”
On Friday, prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC said in court the reasons for the lack of evidence were “multifaceted” and that a decision to drop the case “was not made quickly or lightly.”
He added: “Prosecutors recognize that the defendants, all men of good character, have been suspects for 10 years.
“The prosecution is only too aware of the impact this trial will have on them and their families.”
Mr Aylett KC said he recognized “the potential injustice” to demand that this continue for an extended period of time, adding: “We regret how the case has turned out.”
The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, formally acquitted the three men of all charges.
Mr. Morris was Managing Director of G4S Care and Justice, Mr. Preston was Commercial Director of the Electronic Surveillance Division and Mr. Jardine was Financial Manager and Acting Commercial Director of that unit.
In 2020, the SFO and G4S agreed a £44m deal to settle three fraud cases against the Department of Justice between 2011 and 2012, in which G4S claimed responsibility for misleading the government about the true extent of the profits they were making with a contract to mark prisoners.
The company was able to avoid criminal prosecution, but the deal didn’t address whether an employee was guilty.
The case against the men had been initiated by the SFO.
After the men were acquitted, Ross Dixon of Hickman & Rose Solicitors, representing Mr. Morris, said the case collapsed because the SFO “didn’t understand its own evidence, failed to secure significant evidence … and only in the eleventh.” hour disclosed key material that undermined his case”.
Mr Dixon added: “Ten years is far too long for an individual to wait for justice.
“It is deeply concerning that the SFO has only now failed to provide any evidence after such a long time.”
G4S operates in 85 countries with contracts ranging from defense, healthcare and vehicle parking.
In the UK, the Care and Justice branch operates prisons, immigration services and electronic criminal surveillance.
The company has been active in the care and justice sector since the opening of the first private prison in 1992.
In a related case in January 2019, the last of three former Tesco executives was acquitted over a £250m accounting scandal involving the supermarket chain.
This charge was also filed by the SFO.
Following Friday’s decision, an SFO spokesman said: “As prosecutors, we face difficult decisions, including ending a prosecution when it’s right to do so.
“In accordance with the Code for Prosecutors, we have determined that it is no longer in the public interest to continue with this prosecution.”
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