Serco chiefs’ fraud charges

Two former Serco directors have been charged with fraud and false accounting over its electronic tagging scandal.

nicholas woods, ex-finance director of Serco Home Affairs, and Simon Marshall, former operations director of field services within the outsourcing group, face the allegations after an investigation by the Serious Fraud office (SFO).

it comes after Serco paid a £23m fine to the authority as part of an out-of-court settlement. The company reported itself to the SFO in 2013 after it was revealed to have charged the Government for tagging criminals who were dead, in jail, or had left the country.

Yesterday the SFO said it had jointly charged woods and Marshall with one count of fraud by false representation and one count of false accounting over representations made to the Ministry of Justice between 2011 and 2013.

Marshall is also accused of two counts of fraud by false representation, and woods of one count of false accounting in relation to the 2011 statutory accounts of Serco Geografix. A date for their appearance in court is yet to be fixed.

Andrew Katzen, a solicitor at Hickman and rose who is representing woods, said yesterday: ‘Mr woods is very disappointed that the SFO has decided to charge him. The SFO has spent six years investigating this matter and Mr woods fully co-operated throughout.

‘He denies the allegations and looks forward to the opportunity of clearing his name.’

Marshall could not be reached for comment.