The Guardian has obtained surveillance images showing that oligarchs whose business empire was under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) hired spies to monitor former SFO prosecutors. The goal was reportedly to gather intelligence on the agency's activities, identify its sources, and gain 'leverage'.
The oligarchs, backed by billions from Vladimir Putin's regime, were waging an aggressive counterattack against an SFO investigation into suspected corruption and fraud. The case was ultimately dropped. Labour MP Andy Slaughter, chair of parliament's justice committee, said: 'It is deeply troubling that individuals with knowledge of serious fraud inquiries should be surveilled by the very organisations they have been investigating.'
The surveillance began in 2019, and it is unclear when or if it ended. While the SFO often faces pushback from well-funded law firms and cyber-attacks, this is believed to be the first time surveillance of its former prosecutors has been revealed. Lawyers for the oligarchs' mining company did not dispute the surveillance but said any 'investigations' were lawful and undertaken in preparation for lawsuits against the SFO.
Among those targeted was Tom Martin, a former senior SFO prosecutor who had run complex bribery investigations. He was photographed outside his home with his young son on 7 March 2020. Martin said he was 'absolutely appalled' and called it 'an attack on the rule of law'. Other targets included retired private intelligence operative Mike Walsh and James Coussey, a former SFO investigator who led the probe into the oligarchs' company, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC).
The SFO declined to comment on the surveillance, citing the ongoing nature of some related matters. The revelations raise concerns about the lengths to which wealthy individuals will go to undermine UK law enforcement.
