Fraud continues to be one of the most pervasive threats to businesses and economies worldwide. In 2025, the scale and sophistication of commercial and white-collar fraud reached alarming levels. We have set out some of the most significant cases that dominated this year’s headlines.
£266 million money laundering operation - UK
What happened?
Four men were sentenced for their roles in one of the UK’s largest money laundering cases, involving £266 million of criminal cash. They received prison terms ranging from 10 to 11 years after being found guilty at Leeds Crown Court.
They were discovered following a detailed and comprehensive investigation by West Yorkshire Police into the activities of the defendants’ large amounts of cash that was passing through businesses.
How did it happen?
The defendants used Fowler Oldfield, a gold and jewellery business, as a front to launder illicit funds. Cash couriers delivered huge sums (often in sports bags) to Fowler Oldfield and other sites in London. The money was counted using bank-grade machines, bundled, and then deposited into Fowler Oldfield’s NatWest bank account via G4S or the Post Office. The laundering process aimed to make criminal proceeds appear legitimate and feed organised crime activities. Consequently, NatWest was forced to pay a fine of almost £265,000 due to compliance breaches.
Key takeaway
Strengthen transaction monitoring systems to detect unusual cash deposits and implement robust Know Your Customer (KYC) and source-of-funds checks for high-risk accounts.
The Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan and others - Kuwait and the UK
What happened?
Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security alleges that, over the course of two decades, its former Director General, Fahad Al Rajaan, and his associates received at least USD 970 million in bribes from banks and investment companies.
The case is currently before the London Commercial Court and involves complex cross-border litigation. It is considered one of the largest fraud trials currently underway in the UK.
How did it happen?
The former Director General was able to accept bribes due to a lack of anti-bribery controls and oversight in cross-border investments.
Key takeaway
Cross-border investments require enhanced due diligence and anti-bribery controls, and where this fails, whistleblower programmes should be implemented to detect misconduct early.
Mozambique’s USD 2 billion corruption scandal - Mozambique
What happened?
Manuel Chang, the former Finance Minister of Mozambique, was sentenced in January to 102 months in prison for his role in a USD 2 billion international fraud, bribery, and money laundering scheme. He received USD 7 million in bribes for approving fraudulent government-backed loans intended for maritime projects.
How did it happen?
Between 2013 and 2015, Chang and co-conspirators arranged over USD 2 billion in loans through Credit Suisse and another bank for three state-owned companies. The loans were supposed to fund maritime projects (coastal surveillance, tuna fishing, and shipyard construction). Instead, over USD 200 million was diverted to pay bribes and kickbacks to officials, including Chang. The loans were sold to global investors under false pretences, causing USD 700 million in defaults and major investor losses.
Key takeaways
Financial institutions must rigorously vet government-backed loans or face significant penalties for compliance failures.
USD 770 million ATM investment fraud - USA
What happened?
In September, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Daryl Heller and his companies, Prestige Investment Group LLC and Paramount Management Group LLC, with operating a multi-year Ponzi scheme that resulted in investor losses of approximately USD 400 million.
How did it happen?
Heller created the false impression that he was running a successful, nationwide ATM network and paying investors fixed monthly distributions from income earned.
In reality, he misrepresented the profitability of the ATM network and paid investors using money from new investments and high-interest, short-term loans.
Heller also misappropriated more than USD 185 million of investor funds for his own benefit, including for a beach house and his other businesses.
Key takeaway
Continuous monitoring of fund flows and investor reporting is critical.
Former ‘Forbes 30 under 30’ entrepreneur jailed for fraud - USA
What happened?
On 29 September 2025, Charlie Javice, who was once celebrated on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, was convicted for defrauding JPMorganChase into buying her startup, Frank, for USD 175 million. She was sentenced to just over seven years in prison.
How did it happen?
Frank was an American fintech startup made to assist students in filling out their student aid applications for college.
According to the lawsuit, Javice lied to JPMorganChase about her company’s success. She paid a data-science professor USD 18,000 to create a list of fake user-generated names and addresses in addition to purchasing a list of 4.5 million student names from a marketing firm. This synthetic user data was presented to JPMorgan during the acquisition process as a selling point, when in fact the company had fewer than 300,000 users.
Key takeaways
This case highlights that even experienced professionals can fall victim to determined fraudsters. Although Frank underwent a robust due diligence process as part of the acquisition, certain gaps in the system offer important lessons. For example, in acquisitions where a major portion of the price reflects customer acquisition value, which was the case with Frank, the verification of user data is essential.
Fraud persists as a major threat, undermining the financial systems in the UK and the global economy.
We have a wealth of expertise in fraud prevention and fraud investigations. Contact our team, or your usual Crowe contact, if you would like any advice on enhancing your organisation’s resilience to fraud.
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