Fraud chief: Treat white collar crime less leniently

White-collar criminals should be dealt with as severely as gangs of drug dealers and racketeers, the head of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will say today.

Rosalind Wright, director of the SFO, will warn an audience of international prosecutors "to be under no illusion" about the guilt of solicitors, accountants and estate agents who help criminals profit from their crimes.

Latest figures from criminal intelligence services show that half of all money laundering cases involve funds handled by accountants or solicitors.

"If the criminal wants to use his profit, for example, to buy a house or a car, he has to introduce it into the legitimate banking system," said Ms Wright. "All too often he cannot do that without the help of other criminals who have, all too frequently, qualifications as lawyers, accountants or bankers."

SFO investigators are looking at a number of law firms where they suspect solicitors of being involved in multimillion-pound money laundering offences.

In one case, says Ms Wright, a lawyer "groomed" a solicitor in another firm to commit a string of mortgage frauds. In another, which resulted in a conviction, a solicitor helped criminals fraudulently obtain $19m (£12m) from victims all over the world.

"Please be under no illusions," Ms Wright will say. "The money launderer who helps criminals enjoy the fruits of their crimes is just as much a criminal himself."

Speaking at an international conference of prosecutors in London, she will call for a change in approach to the treatment of white-collar crime. "The sort of criminals who make use of gaps in banking supervision, who take advantage of eyes that are shut to tax evasion, or of money emanating from drug deals, prostitution rings or the trafficking in human beings, will not hesitate to use guns, bombs and any other means at their disposal to protect themselves and their cash," she will say.

"We need a culture which rejects money laundering and regards it as unacceptable to accept money from dubious sources. To help criminals must be regarded as unacceptable and those who are known to facilitate it should become pariahs within the financial services sector."

Solicitors, independent financial advisors and accountants are obvious targets for criminals but others may also be drawn into the process, warns the SFO. But Ms Wright is concerned that although many money laundering cases involve funds controlled by accountants and solicitors, professionals continue to account for only a tiny proportion of suspicious financial transaction disclosures.

The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), which receives these reports, has found that 62 per cent of disclosures come from banks, 15 per cent from bureaux de change and 7 per cent from building societies. Reports from solicitors account for just 1 per cent of disclosures; accountants are responsible for even fewer.

"Professionals must be prepared to look long and hard at dubious transactions before accepting the money – no matter how attractive the business looks on the surface," Ms Wright will say.