Lisa Osofsky
Lisa Osofsky | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Director of the Serious Fraud Office | |
| Assumed office September 2018 | |
| Minister | Geoffrey Cox |
| Preceded by | David Green |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | American British |
| Spouse | Marc Wasserman |
| Alma mater | Amherst College Harvard Law School |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
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) since 3 September 2018.[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 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. It was conducted by a former director of public prosecutions and a retired High Court judge Sir David Calvert-Smith[14]
Lisa Osofsky was finally judged[15] to have made a “number of mistakes and misjudgments”[14][16] in her handling of a prosecution which has ultimately resulted in the convictions of two businessmen being overturned. SFO head was criticized for failings that denied defendant fair trial.[17] The report criticized and exposed “fundamental failures”[17] 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.[17][18] It also attested major errors as severe mishandlings of cases, disclosure failures,[19] amplified by the impression that a U.S. fixer had the “seal of approval”[15] from the director. and “toxic” relationship between staff and senior management.[17] A “damaging culture of distrust between the case team and senior managers[11] developed, the review said.[20]
Personal life
Osofsky is married to fellow lawyer Marc Wassermann.[21]
References
- ^ a b Goodley, Simon (4 June 2018). "Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky named as head of Serious Fraud Office". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ a b "New head of the Serious Fraud Office announced". Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "Lisa Osofsky confirmed as next SFO director". 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Lisa Osofsky confirmed as next director of the Serious Fraud Office". LegalWeek.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "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.
- ^ "Ex-FBI lawyer named director of the Serious Fraud Office". Civilserviceworld.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "SFO names ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky as new director". TheGuardian. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Serious Fraud Office carries out fewer raids under Lisa Osofsky". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "SFO boss Lisa Osofsky's future in balance as report into fraud squad's conduct nears". fnlondon.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Attorney general begins review of SFO after judges overturn bribery conviction". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Independent review into the Serious Fraud Office's handling of the Unaoil case: Terms of Reference". Gov.Uk. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "SFO Crisis Deepens in Face of 'Forensic' Probe, Budget Overspend". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Attorney General launches Review into Unaoil failings at the Serious Fraud Office". Gov.Uk. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Independent Review into the Serious Fraud Office's handling of the Unaoil Case – R v Akle & Anor". Gov.Uk. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Serious Fraud Office chief found to have made errors over major corruption trial". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Report into bungled SFO Unaoil bribery investigation lets chief off the hook". Telegraph. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d "SFO head criticised for failings that denied defendant fair trial". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "How Mistakes, Misjudgment & Distrust Sunk SFO Bribery Case". law360.com. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "UPDATE 2-'Grim day' for UK fraud office as third Unaoil conviction quashed". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "SFO Must Learn From Recent Mistakes". law360.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "Arguments In Favor Of Top Prosecutor In Oklahoma City Case". Retrieved 5 June 2018.
