ConsultingCops (CC) - Hi Kim, can you please tell us what force you worked for, what rank you retired at and what role you performed?

Kim Booth (KB) - I joined the Lincolnshire Police and remained in the service with Lincolnshire until my retirement. I did a secondment during my service with the Regional Crime Squad (now National Crime Agency) as a surveillance operative involving both mobile and rural surveillance (C.R.O.P.) but otherwise remained in various investigative roles until my retirement as Detective Inspector Head of the Lincolnshire Police Economic Crime Unit. Other roles included general CID, Drug Squad and Head of Special Branch

CC - We are obviously interested in your specialism of investigating fraud. Whilst all crime has an impact on its victim can we start with you explaining what would be considered a serious fraud please? Would it be the number of victims, the scale of the fraud or the monetary amount involved?

KB - There are several issues to consider when deciding if a fraud can be classed as ‘serious’ these can include the value of the funds lost. The type of fraud it is, considering the impact the offence has on both the victim, as well as any public interest in the case such as in the current PPE allegations of fraud during the recent Covid pandemic. Some smaller cases of fraud can be considered ‘serious’ especially in the event that the victim despite not having lost a large amount of funds but those funds appropriated by the fraudster might comprise of the victim’s total savings. I consider all fraud offences are serious the difference being is that some are a lot larger than others. What does make the fraud more serious is the ‘end user’ of the ill-gotten gains, are the proceeds funding organized crime? or in recent cases funding terrorism around the world?

CC - Can you tell us about the largest fraud you have investigated?

KB - The largest fraud I have been involved in investigating was an alleged ‘PONZI’ fraud which can be considered to be the ‘Holy Grail’ for fraud investigators. It is not a particularly common offence but the effect on the victims can be devastating, due to the vast amount of monies lost by the victims, think Bernie Madoff. The offence was investigated as a joint investigation between the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Lincolnshire Police involved 3300 victims who lost approx. $375 million USD and were from 65 different countries. The largest investor a Japanese businessman invested $28.9 million USD in the fraudulent scheme and the smallest investor a Chinese who lady invested her savings of $20,000 USD. During the investigation I attended and conducted enquiries with local law enforcement in USA (FBI), Canada (RCMP), New Zealand (SFO New Zealand office), Japan (Tokyo Major Crime Dept) and the Bahamas (Royal Bahamas Police Financial Crime Unit).

CC - Could you explain how it is decided who will investigate a fraud that is cross police borders/national/international?

KB - A lot of reported frauds cross police borders nationally and some are international. Firstly, in evaluating a fraud one has to assess where the offence has taken place, i.e. where the ‘hearts and minds of the offenders are’. When this is established then the force where the offenders are based will be the police force that will deal with the offence, this will also be the case if the offence under investigation involves victims from abroad. If the case is exceptionally large then the force dealing with it can, due to certain criteria refer the case to the Serious Fraud Office (London) who could accept the referral and deal with it. It will take some time to establish who the victims are as this day and age the victims will report their concerns to Action Fraud who will collate the victims and their details and pass the details to the force with the most reported victims but this will not necessarily mean that that force will investigate the offence if the fraudsters are located elsewhere.

CC - How have fraudsters changed their criminal methods as technology has developed?

KB - Fraud has changed immensely over the last few years due to the internet and advancing technology. For example, ‘romance’ fraudsters can communicate with a potential victim from the other side of the world. Whilst it is more difficult to identify the fraudster it is not impossible but just requires a fair bit if time and liaison with other law enforcement agencies in foreign jurisdictions. With the internet there will always remain a digital footprint. Other types of modern technology can be beneficial such as Facebook, Twitter and the like as it never fails to surprise me just how much information people disclose about themselves to the world. As the investigations become more complex police staff and civilian investigators become more proficient. Criminals are always looking to commit the perfect crime but very rarely stray too far from a ‘Modus Operandi’ (M.O.) that has been used successfully by them in the past.

CC - How do the police catch fraudsters especially if they operate from outside the UK?

KB – During an investigation fraudsters can be traced by various means to foreign jurisdictions. Liaison takes place between the investigators and the foreign country and statements can be recorded, visits made from the UK after the necessary paperwork has been submitted and the offenders may be arrested and brought to the UK if extradition arrangements exist.

CC - I understand you have written a book about a fraud case you were involved with can you tell us about this please? What is it called and where can it be purchased?

KB - A number of years ago I dealt with a fraud that basically none of my colleagues believed was true. It intrigued me and I decided to investigate. The case involved a woman fraudster, who as it turned out had a previous conviction for fraud, purporting to be the Illegitimate daughter of Margaret Duchess of Argyll. The elderly victims of the fraud met her whilst on holiday in Scotland and she persuaded them to part with monies in excess of 400k over seven years. It totally ruined the elderly couple financially, a position from which they never recovered. It was a rare case of ‘Fraud by Proxy’ where the fraudster involved other persons to assist her in her fraudulent activities without them knowing what they were getting involved in. There was a bogus Doctor, bogus security guard and a bogus solicitor and a ‘Fake’ Rembrandt painting. The victims totally believed her story and the fraud lasted 7 years. It took three months to persuade the victims to lodge a complaint to police. At the end of the case the victims asked me to write a book about their story after they had both died to put their version of events out there. Despite not being an author, I wrote their story. The book is called ‘A Cruel Deception’ by Kim Booth and can be found on Amazon Books. It’s not a literary masterpiece but it does tell an accurate and unbelievable story.

CC - When you left the police, I understand you continued to investigate fraud for a private company. Can you tell us about this part of your life? 

KB - After leaving the police I worked for five years as a Corporate Security Manager with a large international travel company. I dealt with offences of fraud within the travel industry together with offences of money laundering and sometimes armed robberies. The frauds mainly involved booking holidays with either cloned or stolen credit cards or the cloning of identities of genuine customers. 

CC - How do most people become victims of fraud and is there anything you can advise about avoiding being a victim?

KB - There are numerous pieces of advice I could give but I would consider some of the more important ones to be;

Buy a shredder. Don’t put any confidential paperwork in the bin. A lot of information can be gleaned from what people throw away.

 

Never open attachments on E’ mails unless you know where they are from.

Do not ever give any personal details over the telephone especially from persons purporting to be from a bank.

When out and about in restaurants and shops including petrol stations do not let your credit /debit card out of your sight it only takes a second for somebody to swipe your card on a card reader and make a ‘clone’ of it at a later date.

If possible pay attention when using a cashpoint machine to Check it has not been fitted with a ‘Lebanese loop’ or even a false fascia that could contain a false keypad and a concealed camera and cover the keyboard with your hand so your PIN number cannot be seen.

Be cautious using any cash point late at night and in a less populated area.

Always treat any caller stating ‘We are from a credit card company and suspicious activity has been seen on your account’ Even callers at the door purporting to be plain clothed police officers or ‘The CID’ ask for Identification and if necessary ask them to wait outside while you call their police station to ‘check them out’ they won’t mind if they are genuine.

CC - Is there anything else you would like to add?

KB - It is my opinion that fraud is highly under estimated together with the effect it has on the victim. I have known occasions where the victim has lost their total wealth to a fraudster and have committed suicide knowing that due to the advancing years of the victim and their inability to continue to work their finances will never recover. The investigation of fraud has been underfunded for years. There is no romantic side to a fraudster they are just thieves some may be more intelligent and plausible than others but the bottom line is they are criminals plain and simple.