United Kingdom: White Collar Crime, Anti-Corruption & Fraud

The MHRA has executed its largest-ever seizure of unlicensed weight-loss medicines, raiding a country estate and recovering approximately 12,000 doses including retatrutide and tirzepatide. This enforcement action signals a significant escalation in criminal investigations targeting the infrastructure behind illegal medicines trade, raising critical questions about regulatory compliance and criminal liability for businesses operating in the weight-loss, aesthetics and wellness sectors.

A recent High Court ruling has shone a light on one of the most distressing scenarios in inheritance law: what happens when someone forges a Will to defraud the people a deceased person most loved.

Airbus Operations Limited has paid over £6.4 million to HMRC in the highest compound settlement ever reached for strategic export control offences in the UK. The breaches, which AOL self-reported, involved failures to maintain proper records of controlled technology exports and transfers over a sustained period, highlighting the critical importance of robust export control compliance procedures for organizations operating internationally.

In a landmark High Court ruling, two former Petrofac directors facing bribery charges have secured the right to continue receiving defence cost coverage from their insurers under a Directors and Officers policy. The decision addresses fundamental questions about when insurers can avoid policies based on alleged fraud and establishes important precedents for executive protection during criminal proceedings.

Receiving a Section 172 notice requiring you to identify a driver can lead to serious penalties if you cannot provide the information. Understanding the reasonable diligence defence and the evidence needed to demonstrate genuine enquiries could be crucial to avoiding six penalty points, an unlimited fine, or even disqualification. What steps must you take to show the court that you made every realistic effort to identify the driver?

Understanding when driving offences on private land can lead to prosecution is crucial for motorists and landowners alike. The distinction between public and private property under the Road Traffic Act 1988 depends on public accessibility rather than ownership, meaning offences in car parks, private roads, and similar locations may still result in criminal charges.

B P Collins’ criminal team considers whether DPAs are a pragmatic tool of economic crime enforcement — or a Parliament-endorsed bargain that looks uncomfortably like a payment for protection from prosecution.

Afan Valley v Lupton Fawcett LLP [2026] EWCA Civ 2 is an excellent reminder from the Court of Appeal that establishing a breach of duty is just one of many hurdles, including causation and scope of duty, which a claimant must overcome to be successful in recovering damages.

In R v Lakeman, the Court of Appeal held that virtual in-game currency can amount to “property” capable of being stolen under section 4 of the Theft Act 1968, overturning a first-instance ruling that RuneScape gold pieces were not property.