It has been fashionable to malign the Serious Fraud Office ever since the agency was founded almost 40 years ago. Successive SFO directors have routinely found themselves attacked in print and online – perhaps ‘par for the course’ due to the intense, results-driven nature of what they do.
Historically, some of that criticism has been justified. However, more recent history shows that in the past few years, the SFO scorecard has been rather better under its recently departed director, Nick Ephgrave.
His regime may only have lasted two-and-a-half years, rather than the full five-year term, but the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police – the first non-lawyer appointed to the role – had a positive impact. Leaving Graham McNulty (another former senior Met officer) as interim director, Ephgrave has bequeathed an organisation that is potentially better placed to meet future challenges.