CMA announces two senior cartel appointments
As part of an ongoing recruitment drive to grow its cartels and criminal enforcement capacity, the CMA has today announced the appointment of 2 new directors to the Cartels and Criminal Group.
David Harper has been appointed as Director of Intelligence and will be joining the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) from the Metropolitan Police in December. His main responsibilities will be to develop and lead the CMA’s cartels intelligence team and to manage and develop intelligence-led investigations within the Cartels and Criminal Group (CCG). This will include building on the CMA’s existing relationships with partner agencies and ensuring the lawful deployment of the CMA’s investigation powers.
Emma Lindsay, who is currently an Assistant Director in CCG, has been appointed as Director of Criminal Enforcement. In her new role, which starts with immediate effect, Emma will be primarily responsible for the project direction of criminal cartel cases, developing with the lead investigator the case strategy and investigation plans and ensuring that cases are investigated and prosecuted lawfully, effectively and efficiently. Emma will also play a leading role on assessing criminal law and enforcement policy issues within the CMA.
Sonya Branch, CMA Executive Director of Enforcement, said:
Cartels cheat consumers and other businesses of getting a fair price and we are determined to crack down on them. With over half of new cartel cases opened since 2010 having been intelligence-led, the CMA is acting increasingly like a mainstream criminal enforcement agency. Our most recent activity includes the ongoing prosecutions in the galvanised steel tanks cartel case and successful prosecutions for unlawful pyramid selling under consumer protection law.
These 2 appointments are among a number of additional senior posts that we are creating as part of an investment in building up the CMA’s intelligence, investigation and enforcement capacity further. This will enable the CMA to increase both the number and speed of cartel investigations that we are able to pursue, both criminally and under the Competition Act 1998 (CA98).
David and Emma will join the existing cartels and criminal senior leadership team, comprising Stephen Blake as Senior Director – Cartels and Criminal, Lee Craddock as Director – Investigations and Criminal Enforcement, and Juliette Enser as Director – Cartel Enforcement, leading on civil cartel enforcement under the CA98. The group reports to Sonya Branch, Executive Director of Enforcement.
The CMA expects to appoint a Director of Digital Forensics and Intelligence shortly, and will be advertising a further number of cartel roles, at various levels, in the new year. These roles will be advertised on Civil Service jobs.
Notes to editors
- David Harper joins the CMA from the Metropolitan Police where he worked for 30 years and specialised in the production and management of intelligence connected with serious crime and risk assessment and management within the Covert Policing Command. This included time spent within Special Branch and at a number of agencies including a secondment with the National Criminal Intelligence Service. His work has covered the tasking of the intelligence agencies in serious crime cases as well as the development of national policy in relation to the interpretation and introduction of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 for the police service.
- Emma Lindsay has worked for the CMA/Office of Fair Trading (OFT) since June 2013 leading on the CMA’s prosecution guidance on the cartel offence and other policy projects within the Cartels and Criminal Group. Prior to that she worked at the Serious Fraud Office for 15 years, the last 10 of which were as a case controller, where she successfully led the investigation and prosecution of some of the most serious and complex fraud cases, including the prosecutions arising out of the collapse of Independent Insurance.
- The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. From 1 April 2014 it took over the functions of the Competition Commission and the competition functions (and certain consumer functions) of the OFT.
- Anyone who has information about a cartel is asked to call the CMA cartels hotline on 020 3738 6888 or email cartelshotline@cma.gsi.gov.uk. The CMA operates a rewards policy under which it may pay a financial reward of up to £100,000 in return for information which helps it to identify and take action against illegal cartels.
- Under the CMA’s leniency policy a business that has been involved in a cartel may (in certain defined circumstances) be granted immunity from penalties or a significant reduction in penalty in return for reporting the cartel and assisting the CMA with its investigation. Individuals involved in cartel activity may also in certain defined circumstances be granted immunity from criminal prosecution for the cartel offence under the Enterprise Act 2002.
- Media enquiries to be directed to Kasia Reardon on 020 3738 6901.
- For more information see the CMA’s homepage, or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Flickr and LinkedIn. Sign up to our email alerts to receive updates on Competition Act and cartels cases.