RSS feedsThe panel said it was pleased the government had decided to take on the Law Commission's recommendations, particularly conspiracy to defraud, which is seen as a vital weapon in the legal armoury to prosecute habitual fraudsters.
Ros Wright, chairman of the panel and former director of the Serious Fraud Office, said: 'Abolishing the old offence of conspiracy to defraud would have severely restricted the Crown's ability to prosecute large and serious fraud cases.
'The statute allows juries to be shown evidence of a pattern of dishonest behavious rather than what appears to be just a string of minor frauds. It allows them to get a true picture of just how devastating a large number of these can become.'
