On 24 November 2021 I will be “going home” to speak at the Annual Fraud Conference 2021 – The Power of Partnerships – being held at Oxford Town Hall. This is in its 6th year now and is organised by Oxford City Council’s Oxford Investigation Service (OIS).
From 1987 to 1997 I worked in Oxford for the Oxfordshire Money Advice Project, a debt training, support and advocacy agency funded by Oxfordshire County Council and run by the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. During that time I also spent 4 years as a city councillor, including almost 2 years as chair of the Housing Committee.
Oxford, and the Town Hall in particular, has always therefore held precious memories for me and I have always enjoyed my returns since coming to the Bar in 1999, primarily to the County Court, and the nostalgia-bug invariably grips me whenever I am there.
This time I am privileged to be surrounded by such an impressive line-up covering fraud from its detection and investigation stage through to its prosecution and appropriate response.
I am especially lucky to be talking in a workshop with Raj Vine, the fantastic Counter Fraud Specialist at Riverside. I worked with Raj, and indeed the OIS, in a sub-letting possession trial I wrote about earlier this year.
The title of this year’s conference is especially important for two main reasons. Firstly, when you look at any housing fraud case which has produced a successful outcome for the landlord then it will always have only done so because of the input of various agencies, individuals and professions. I am fortunate that by the time I get involved much of the hard work has already been done!
Secondly, it illustrates for me as a lawyer where I could do more, listen more and learn more – whether that be investigation work, officer input, etc. Teamwork is not, and should never be, an empty mantra and partnerships are essential to identify the true factual scenario, maximise prospects of success and hone the case to the extent it warrants.