Former Serco bosses cleared of hiding £12m in profits from electronic tagging contracts

Neil Saunders was lead counsel on behalf of Nicholas Woods, the first defendant, in a case brought by the SFO. Mr Woods was today acquitted by the jury following the Judge’s direction in relation to an allegation of fraud when he was employed by Serco Ltd in 2011-12.

Mr Woods, alongside colleague, Simon Marshall, had been charged with using fraud and false accounting to artificially reduce Serco’s profit margins on a contract for the electronic monitoring of offenders on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

The trial had been hearing evidence for some weeks and involved problems regarding disclosure. The SFO found a mistake this month which meant that material had not been disclosed to the defence. The SFO had sought an adjournment to seek a retrial, but Mrs Justice Tipples refused the application.

You can read further on the case here.

26th April 2021