Lisa Osofsky
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
Director of the Serious Fraud Office
In office
September 2018 – August 2023
MinisterGeoffrey Cox
Suella Braverman
Michael Ellis
Victoria Prentis
Preceded byDavid Green
Personal details
NationalityAmerican
British
SpouseMarc Wasserman
Alma materAmherst College
Harvard Law School
OccupationLawyer

Lisa Marie Osofsky (born 18 September 1961) is an American-British lawyer who has served as Director of the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) till Aug 2023.[1][2]

Early life

Osofsky has dual American and British nationality.[1] She earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School.[2]

Career

Osofsky worked for the FBI as deputy general counsel.[3] She was then managing director and European head of investigations at Exiger, whom she joined in 2003.[3][4]

She began her career working as a US federal prosecutor, taking on white collar crime cases including defence contractor and bank frauds, money laundering and drug related conspiracies. She spent five years as Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer at the FBI and was seconded to the SFO whilst a Special Attorney in the US Department of Justice’s Fraud Division. She was also called to the Bar in England and Wales.[5]

Osofsky has worked three years for Goldman Sachs International as their Money Laundering Reporting Officer[6] and spent seven years in the Corporate Investigation Division of Control Risks, where she advised on compliance issues.[5]

Prior to joining the SFO, Osofsky worked for Exiger, a global governance, risk and compliance advisory firm, where she served as Regional Leader and Head of Investigations for Europe, Middle East and Africa.[5] In this capacity she was also in charge of monitoring a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) which the HSBC’s signed with the US Department of Justice.[7]

In June 2018, it was announced that Osofsky would succeed the SFO's interim director Mark Thompson (who was standing in since David Green left) on 3 September.[3]

During her term she had repeatedly faced severe criticism.[8] In particular Osofsky’s handling of numerous cases, including, KBR, Serco and the so called “Unaoil” investigation was commented by lawmakers as marked by “serious and very, very basic errors”. This led to speculation over her future.[9] especially when the then Attorney General, Suella Braverman QC MP, launched an independent review[10] into the SFO, commissioning[11] a “forensic and robust”[12][13] probe of Osofsky’s agency in February 2022, piling pressure on SFO director Lisa Osofsky.[14] It was conducted by a former director of public prosecutions and a retired High Court judge Sir David Calvert-Smith[15] Braverman first announced a planned SFO review[16][17] in December 2021 after the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of a former executive at Unaoil, criticising the SFO for disclosure failures that it said undermined his right to a fair trial.[18][19][20]

On the day, the Attorney General pledged its “forensic and robust” review[21] into the watchdog and its director, giving evidence to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on 9 February 2022[22] as to why the SFO was at risk of over-spending on its budget that year, Lisa Osofsky admitted, the SFO staff “are human beings. We make mistakes”.[23][24] Less than 1 month later, in March 2022, the SFO’s director refused to answer questions from MPs about the quashing of a second former oil executive’s bribery conviction, saying she did not want to ‘impinge on’ a judge-led review of the watchdog’s disclosure failures.[25][26]

Lisa Osofsky was finally judged[27][28] to have made a “number of mistakes and misjudgments”[15][29] in her handling of a prosecution which has ultimately resulted in the convictions of three businessmen being overturned.[30][31] SFO head was criticized for failings that denied defendant fair trial.[32] The report criticized and exposed “fundamental failures”[32] at the UK’s anti-fraud agency, including Osofsky’s use of her personal mobile, lack of accountability, undocumented and unminuted meetings with a fixer.[32][33] It also attested major errors as severe mishandlings of cases, disclosure failures,[34] amplified by the impression that a U.S. fixer had the “seal of approval”[27] from the director. and “toxic” relationship between staff and senior management.[32] Piling fresh pressure on SFO Director Lisa Osofsky, serious problems included a failure to properly record meetings, the use of personal mobile phones, disclosure failures and distrust between senior management and the case team, amplified by the impression that a U.S. fixer had the "seal of approval" from the director.[35][36][37] A “damaging culture of distrust between the case team and senior managers[11] developed, the review said.[38]

Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General, responding to Sir David Calvert-Smith’s report into the Serious Fraud Office’s handling of the Unaoil case, said:[39] “It is clear that the hard-working investigative staff at the SFO were repeatedly undermined by senior managers whose combination of gullibility and arrogance allowed a fixer for the Unaoil owners to manipulate their management of the case. Susan Hawley, executive director at anti-corruption charity Spotlight on Corruption, said: ‘This is a grim day for the SFO”[35][40][41] led by Osofsky. But only in October 2022 did Osofsky finally admit to MPs[42] that she was taken in by an ex-US Drug Enforcement Administration agent acting as a ‘fixer’ in relation to the Unaoil bribery scandal.[43][44] But this admission raises more questions than it answers. Lawmakers have periodically called for the SFO to be rolled into a broader crime-fighting force.[45]

Lisa Osofsky was considered a refreshing change when she was appointed as the UK’s chief anti-bribery prosecutor with a five-year contract.[46][47][48] But the government’s patience with the SFO’s mistakes has been running out through her tenure. Less than four years later, the fate of the agency and its director was on the agenda again after calamitous missteps during a string of prosecutions. As a consequence, Osofsky announced to the SFO staff on November 9 according to various media reports, that she would not be running again for leading the SFO after her current term.[49] The attorney general's office, which oversees the agency, confirmed in a statement that Osofsky would stand down on 28 August 2023 “after serving my full tenure”.[50] A "Report and Recommendations from The Shadow Attorney General’s Office” says a series of high-profile errors and scandals have called the current leadership and culture of the SFO into question, undermining morale at the organisation, and increasing the likelihood that yet more of its experienced staff will be poached by corporate law firms."[51]

Personal life

Osofsky is married to fellow lawyer Marc Wassermann.[52]

References

  1. 1 2 Goodley, Simon (4 June 2018). "Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky named as head of Serious Fraud Office". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "New head of the Serious Fraud Office announced". Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Lisa Osofsky confirmed as next SFO director". 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Lisa Osofsky confirmed as next director of the Serious Fraud Office". LegalWeek.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "Biographies". Sfo.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2018. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  6. ↑ "Ex-FBI lawyer named director of the Serious Fraud Office". Civilserviceworld.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Goodley, Simon (5 June 2018). "SFO names ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky as new director". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Serious Fraud Office carries out fewer raids under Lisa Osofsky". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. ↑ "SFO boss Lisa Osofsky's future in balance as report into fraud squad's conduct nears". fnlondon.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Pegg, David; Evans, Rob (10 December 2021). "Attorney general begins review of SFO after judges overturn bribery conviction". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Independent review into the Serious Fraud Office's handling of the Unaoil case: Terms of Reference". Gov.Uk. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "SFO Crisis Deepens in Face of 'Forensic' Probe, Budget Overspend". Bloomberg. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Attorney General launches Review into Unaoil failings at the Serious Fraud Office". Gov.Uk. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Former judge to probe UK fraud agency as pressure mounts on director Osofsky". Reuters. 9 February 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Independent Review into the Serious Fraud Office's handling of the Unaoil Case – R v Akle & Anor". Gov.Uk. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Unaoil executive's conviction quashed in heavy blow to UK fraud agency". Reuters. 10 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Serious Fraud Office chief Lisa Osofsky tipped to leave after bungled Unaoil bribe case". The Times. 16 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "Fallout Grows After U.K. Authority's Missteps in Unaoil Probe". The Wall Street Journal. 24 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "The Unaoil bribery scandal". Spotlight on Corruption. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  20. ↑ "SFO judges overturn conviction in Unaoil case after bungled investigation". The Guardian. 10 December 2021.
  21. ↑ "SFO Crisis Deepens in Face of 'Forensic' Probe, Budget Overspend". Bloomberg. 9 February 2022.
  22. ↑ "Formal meeting - Oral evidence session". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  23. ↑ "Parliamentlive.tv - Justice Committee: The work of the Serious Fraud Office". Parliamentlive.tv. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  24. ↑ "No lawyers referred to SRA over collapsed SFO prosecution, MPs told". Law Gazette. 10 February 2022.
  25. ↑ "SFO director ducks questions on Unaoil investigation". Law Gazette. 29 March 2022.
  26. ↑ "Formal meeting - Oral evidence session". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  27. 1 2 Evans, Rob; Pegg, David (21 July 2022). "Serious Fraud Office chief found to have made errors over major corruption trial". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  28. ↑ "Deferred Prosecution Agreements Code of Practice" (PDF). Gov.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  29. ↑ Oliver, Matt (21 July 2022). "Report into bungled SFO Unaoil bribery investigation lets chief off the hook". Telegraph. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  30. ↑ "Third Unaoil conviction quashed in London". Reuters. 21 July 2022.
  31. ↑ "'Serious farce': SFO slammed over Unaoil case as third conviction quashed". Law Gazette. 21 July 2022.
  32. 1 2 3 4 "SFO head criticised for failings that denied defendant fair trial". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  33. ↑ "How Mistakes, Misjudgment & Distrust Sunk SFO Bribery Case". law360.com. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  34. ↑ "UPDATE 2-'Grim day' for UK fraud office as third Unaoil conviction quashed". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  35. 1 2 "'Grim day' for UK fraud office as third Unaoil conviction quashed". Reuters. 21 July 2022.
  36. ↑ "Serious Fraud Office boss Lisa Osofsky hit by backlash". The Times. 28 July 2022.
  37. ↑ "Report into bungled SFO Unaoil bribery investigation left's chief facing axe". The Telegraph. 21 July 2022.
  38. ↑ "SFO Must Learn From Recent Mistakes". law360.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  39. ↑ @EmilyThornberry (21 July 2022). "The Government needs to wake up to the serious problems in our fraud prosecution system. For too long, too few have been held accountable, and too many have gotten away with their crimes. It's time for action" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  40. ↑ "Triple whammy for the Serious Fraud Office as Unaoil bribery conviction overturned and two reviews of Unaoil and Serco failings highlight major shortfall in resources at the agency". Spotlight on Corruption. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  41. ↑ "'Serious farce': SFO slammed over Unaoil case as third conviction quashed". The Law Gazette. 21 July 2022.
  42. ↑ "Serious Fraud Office Inquiry". File on 4. 22 October 2022. BBC.
  43. ↑ "SFO director Lisa Osofsky admits being taken in by fixer in Unaoil case". Financial News. 20 October 2022.
  44. ↑ "Serious Fraud Office director Lisa Osofsky to step down". Financial Times. 27 October 2022.
  45. ↑ "Third Unaoil bribery offender launches London appeal against conviction". Euronews. 6 June 2022.
  46. ↑ "New head of the Serious Fraud Office announced". gov.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  47. ↑ "Former U.S. federal prosecutor to head Britain's fraud buster". Reuters. 4 June 2018.
  48. ↑ "UK's anti-fraud agency boss faces double blow from conduct inquiries". The National. 16 February 2022.
  49. ↑ "SFO director Lisa Osofsky to depart role next summer". Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  50. ↑ "Lisa Osofsky to step down as SFO director in August 2023". 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  51. ↑ "Turning the tide on Corporate Fraud - Report and Recommendations from The Shadow Attorney General's Office" (PDF). emilythornberry.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  52. ↑ "Arguments In Favor Of Top Prosecutor In Oklahoma City Case". 20 June 1995. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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