Former G4S Executives Charged with Fraud by U.K. Prosecutor

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office charged three former executives of G4S Care and Justice Services UK Ltd. for conspiring to defraud the Ministry of Justice over several years, the prosecutor said in a statement.

Richard Morris, former managing director at the firm, Mark Preston, former commercial director of its electronic monitoring business, and James Jardine, former finance manager and acting commercial director of its electronic monitoring business, were each charged with seven counts of fraud in connection with false representations made to the ministry between 2009 and 2012, the SFO said Tuesday.

Morris “refutes these allegations in the strongest possible terms,” Ross Dixon, a lawyer representing Morris, said by email. “He will robustly contest the charges and is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.”

In July, the G4S Plc subsidiary agreed to pay 38.5 million pounds ($50.2 million) as part of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO. The agreement only relates to the potential criminal liability of G4S C&J and doesn’t address whether liability of any sort attaches to any employee, agent, former employee or former agent of the firm.

G4S declined to comment on the charges against the individuals.

The former executives attended their first hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and are due to appear at Southwark Crown Court next month.

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