Month: June 2018

Her Majesty’s Passport Office and Action Fraud have teamed up to urge people to report their lost and stolen passports to prevent unrecovered and unreported documents from being abused and used to commit identity crime or facilitate illegal travel across borders.

Almost 50 million people hold a UK passport of which just under 400,000 are reported lost or stolen each year. This represents less than 1 percent of all passports in circulation, yet despite the risks associated with lost or stolen passports, people are waiting on average 73 days before making a report.

Once a passport is reported as lost or stolen, HM Passport Office cancel it, and share the information within 24 hours with the National Crime Agency to record the loss or theft on Interpol’s stolen and lost travel document database.

By sharing the details of lost or stolen passports, law enforcement agencies including border and immigration control officers are able to keep ahead of the criminals who attempt to get a UK passport illegally. This also ensures action can be taken against anyone identified as having obtained a passport by fraudulent means.

Immigration Minister, Caroline Nokes, said:

When you lose your bank card, the first thing you do is contact your bank and have it cancelled, yet people don’t treat lost or stolen passports with the same urgency.

But not reporting a lost or stolen passport can have severe consequences, such as people using your identity or attempting to use your documents to try to enter the country illegally.

That is why it is absolutely vital you report your lost or stolen passport immediately: to help law enforcement agencies prevent people from entering the UK illegally, and to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity crime.

All passports are inspected at the border, either in person by Border Force officers who are rigorously trained to prevent the holders of fraudulent documents from entering the country or through e-Passport gates which use facial recognition technology to provide identity and security checks in a matter of seconds.

Between 2010 and March 2018, Border Force officers denied entry to over 144,000 people.

Director of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said:

I know we can all get excited about going on holiday, and it can be easy to forget to take care of your passport, but the consequences of losing your passport can be severe. Not only will you find you have to pay the costs of replacing it, you may also fall victim to identity fraud.

Passports have all the information that fraudsters need to steal your identity and start setting accounts up in your name.

This summer, I’m urging people to protect themselves from fraudsters by looking after their passport, so that they don’t have to worry about it falling into the hands of criminals during the holiday season.

Fraud and cyber crime is increasing and therefore there hasn’t been a more important time than now, to protect your identity from criminals.

Immigration Enforcement also constantly monitors and identifies emerging threats in relation to the production and supply of false travel documents, including the use of the internet to facilitate the trade in passports and identity cards.

A range of interventions to target the criminals involved are used by Immigration Enforcement, including prosecution of crime groups in the UK and overseas.

All lost and stolen passports can be reported online, making the process quick and simple to use.

The Home Office will also be sharing a series of images and animations across its social media platforms.

The campaign is supported by Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre.

You can report fraud and cyber crime to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online. To speak with an Action Fraud adviser, please visit the Action Fraud website for their 24/7 web chat service.

Michael Allen, 64 of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was a director of Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers Limited, a specialist company in manufacturing and erecting steel-framed agricultural and industrial buildings.

In July 2014, a worker was carrying out repairs on a farm building in Buxton, when they fell through the roof and suffered life-changing injuries.

An investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and they found that Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers Limited had breached several health and safety regulations.

Among several breaches, HSE found that the company failed to carry out health and safety plans for the site in Buxton, did not properly train the employee to carry out fragile roof work and equipment was inadequate and insufficient for the risks posed.

As a result, Michael Allen pleaded guilty to breaching three counts of the working at heights regulations and was fined £274,671 in November 2016.

However, Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers Limited went into liquidation in December 2016 and Michael Allen told investigators that the business closed down because it could not afford to pay the fine imposed by the court.

But further investigations by the Insolvency Service found that after the accident and to allow for a clear division between fabrication and installation activities, a new company was incorporated in October 2014. The new company carried out fabrication services, while the installation side of the business was wound down.

And if the fabrication contracts had remained within Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers Limited, the original company, there would have been sufficient funds to pay the fine.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has since accepted a disqualification undertaking from Michael Allen.

Effective from 27 June 2018, he is now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for 6 years.

Dave Elliott, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

Michael Allen had a lack of regard for the workers, which unfortunately resulted in a horrific injury for one person.

Directors who fail to adhere to health and safety regulations to protect their employees and then fail to pay the fine can expect to face the consequences of a period of disqualification.

Notes to editors

Michael Allen, date of birth is February 1954, is known to have resided in Ashbourne.

Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers Limited (CRO No.02832623) was incorporated on 02 July 1993 and traded from Derbyshire manufacturing and erecting steel framed agricultural and industrial buildings.

Michael Allen was a director from 02 July 1993 until the company went into liquidation on 22 December 2016. The estimated deficiency as regards creditors and shareholders was £217,833.

On 6 June 2018 the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Michael Allen, effective from 27 June 2018, for a period of 6 years. The matters of unfitness that were accepted were that:

On 30 July 2014, Michael Allen failed to ensure that Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers Limited complied with its obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and as a result an employee fell through the roof of a barn and sustained serious and life changing injuries.

Disqualification

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service (England and Wales)

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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