Dan Hudson comments for Law360 on SFO disclosure and record-keeping
15 October 2025
Seladore Legal head of white-collar crime Dan Hudson has commented for Law360 on the disclosure and record-keeping practices of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), following revelations from a recent whistleblowing case.
The article reports that a senior SFO official had advised investigators not to commit doubts about the viability of a criminal probe to email which an investigator challenged. Although an employment tribunal does not reveal such direction to be a breach of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act, the instruction has raised concerns about transparency and internal scrutiny within the agency.
Commenting on the SFO’s approach, Dan notes that the agency retains discretion in managing its case processes:
“It’s a matter for the SFO as to how to run its case efficiently, provided they are compliant with law. I can see why they don’t want a potentially shifting case theory and other irrelevant thoughts committed to print that could potentially slow down the disclosure process.”
The case offers a rare glimpse into the SFO’s internal operations at a time when it continues to face significant disclosure challenges following a series of high-profile prosecutions that collapsed in recent years.