FOLLOWUP: Serious Fraud Office reportedly called in to investigate MG Rover collapse
The saga that is the collapse of MG Rover and the subsequent four-year government probe into what went wrong has just taken another sordid and oddly-timed twist. Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for the British Labour Party, has told the Financial Times that he was under "obligation" to pass the case to the Serious Fraud Office (is there a "Not So Serious Fraud Office?") following his review of the findings into the last days of MG.
In response, the so-called "Phoenix Four" executives that had purchased the brand from BMW for a a nominal £10 fee have called into question Lord Mandelson's motives in stalling publication of the report even further. A representative of the businessmen said, "We suspect that this is a government ruse to conceal its own failings."
Political motives aside, there are serious questions as to how many leads there will be for the SFO to follow now that four years have passed since the last MG rolled out of the brand's plant in Longbridge and the company collapsed into administration. Further, if there were legitimate suspicions of criminal activity, many wonder why the SFO wasn't called into action at a much earlier date.
Somehow, we have a feeling this case is far from over. Ah, well... what's another four years?
[Source: The Financial Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jorge 5:42PM (7/06/2009)
Maybe in the UK they have a "Just Kidding Fraud Office"! LOL
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13enS 6:24PM (7/06/2009)
Right next door to the "Ministry of Silly walks"
Bloke 7:11PM (7/06/2009)
People in the industry were saying it would end up coming to this three years ago.
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The Hit 8:21AM (7/08/2009)
"Further, if there were legitimate suspicions of criminal activity, many wonder why the SFO wasn't called into action at a much earlier date."
The case got tied up in the "Slacker Fraud Office"...
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Stewart 11:33AM (7/08/2009)
The serious fraud office generally goes after cases of fraud over £1m, because these cases tend to be more complex than the police can handle...
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Joan of Arc 10:01AM (7/07/2009)
True, because although the police probably aren't stupid, they just don't have the manpower to handle cases this large. I'd take off the "Serious" in the title though... makes it sound silly, haha.
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