Lucy hears a tale of two frauds

How unlucky can one woman get? Lucy Woods isn't merely the head of WorldCom International, the European arm of the telecoms company embroiled in a fraud scandal. She is also a non-executive director of the Royal Mint, the UK's money manufacturing company being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

WorldCom is being investigated by the US Department of Justice and the US financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, after its accounts were found to have been overstated by $3.8bn (£2.5bn).

The SFO is currently deciding whether it will launch a fraud investigation into alleged "potentially improper" payments made by the Royal Mint in the late 1990s. The sums are thought to be in the thousands of pounds range.

The Royal Mint was involved in controversy earlier this year when it had to withdraw its new £5 notes because their serial numbers could be rubbed off.

Ms Woods joined the Royal Mint in February last year, before the alleged payments were made. The appointment was to "further broaden the commercial expertise on the Mint's board, and the organisation's ability to develop new commercial freedoms," said Melanie Johnson, a Department of Trade and Industry minister at the time.

Ms Woods started at World-Com in 1999 and began her current job after the resignation of Liam Strong, who had been head of Sears, the ailing retail group. Ms Woods joined WorldCom after running BT's Northern Ireland division.

"The situation at Royal Mint happened well before she was a non-executive and was discovered by the current [deputy master of the Mint]," said a WorldCom spokesman. "She is an executive with a very good reputation in the telecoms industry."

A Treasury spokesman did not return calls.