The UK is facing a series of "mini-Madoff" scandals in the coming months as investment frauds currently being investigated by City of London Police and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) come to light, the head of the agency has warned.
SFO director Richard Alderman told the Independent that authorities are currently tracking a spate of trading, investment and mortgage scams linked to economic downturn.
Mr Alderman added that a "big Ponzi" scheme similar to the $50 billion (£34.4 billion) scam orchestrated by disgraced Wall Street broker Bernard Madoff is among the cases under investigation.
Detective Superintendent Bob Wishard of the City of London Police fraud squad said: "The growing number of frauds in the City and the deepening recession has prompted speculation that Britain could soon see its first £1 billion fraud."
He warned that there are "undoubtedly some huge investment frauds going on".
In December, the SFO wrote to the City's legal and accounting firms calling on whistleblowers to come forward if they had evidence of suspected fraud.
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