Under the current sentencing guidelines, fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, or for crimes where the financial loss is less than £5,000, a maximum of one year. However, the majority of those found guilty of crimes with a loss under £5,000 receive a fine or community order instead of the one year prison sentence available.32 The Department acknowledged that the maximum sentence permissible for crimes with a loss over £5,000 is only used “very rarely” and needed to be use...

Under the current sentencing guidelines, fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, or for crimes where the financial loss is less than £5,000, a maximum of one year. However, the majority of those found guilty of crimes with a loss under £5,000 receive a fine or community order instead of the one year prison sentence available.32 The Department acknowledged that the maximum sentence permissible for crimes with a loss over £5,000 is only used “very rarely” and needed to be used more. The NCA told us that law enforcement can often spend longer investigating a fraud than the convicted criminal is sentenced to, and there can be a Type: conclusion | Number: 16 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5. PAC conclusion: The criminal justice system’s current approach to penalising and sentencing fraudsters is insufficient to prevent the UK being seen as a haven for fraudsters. 5. PAC recommendation: The Department should work with partners in government to addr