UK fraud prosecutor seeks extra £26.5m

London - Britain's leading prosecutor, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), has asked its government paymasters for an extra £26.5m to help fund complex investigations, such as alleged financial benchmark manipulation and corruption cases.

The agency, which nine months ago sought another £19m to bolster investigations such as the Libor (London interbank offered rate) benchmark fixing probe and an inquiry into Barclays' fundraising from Qatar, had been expected to seek extra funding this financial year too.

The SFO can request so-called "blockbuster funding" to beef up a meagre annual budget of £35.2m - far below the budget of some regional police forces - if the costs of extra lawyers and investigators for specific cases exceed a percentage of its budget.

"Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £26.5m will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the Serious Fraud Office," said Solicitor General Robert Buckland, a government lawyer, in a written ministerial statement published on Thursday.

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