KEY POINTS:
The retiring head of the Serious Fraud Office was not consulted on the decision to close the agency and give the job of investigating white collar criminals to the police.
David Bradshaw told the law and order select committee he was involved in discussions about the new Organised Crime Agency "up to a certain point, when there was no move to have the Serious Fraud Office be a part of it".
The prospect of dismantling the SFO was never included in those discussions, he said, and the first he knew of the decision was three weeks before it was made public on September 11.
The annual report briefing by the SFO to the law and order select committee was the first time Mr Bradshaw has spoken publicly about the closure of the SFO, which he has directed for the past 10 years.
In September, the Government announced it would establish an Organised Crime Agency to tackle issues such as drug smuggling, money laundering and global crimes.
In the select committee, Mr Bradshaw said the SFO could work under another structure, but needed to have the specialist investigators, the processes and extra powers the SFO had.
He had a pointed message for the members of Parliament, warning that wasting the skills and powers the SFO had built up over 17 years would be to the detriment of the public.
"In reality the capability that exists within the Serious Fraud Office is extremely vulnerable ... the capability has not just happened, it has taken years to develop but if not properly understood could be easily lost."
Corporate fraud was as much an issue as it ever had been, and the SFO's expertise was "an invaluable investment in law enforcement".
"Serious white collar crime has not been eliminated. My own view is that first you will have to eliminate greed from human nature before you eliminate serious white collar crime."
Mr Bradshaw said few people understood the way the SFO worked and the way it used its powers. "You need those powers to be able to get the information you need often from professional advisers who would often be instructed by their clients not to co-operate with law enforcement agencies."
The speed in which the decision was made was clear from the SFO's advertisement for a replacement for Mr Bradshaw and the SFO's work for taking a lead role in administering the law for taking profits from crime within the Criminal Proceeds Bill.
