Fraudsters feel the fear: why prison sentences may deter white collar crime

Research concludes that prison sentences for financial crimes reduce reoffending by nearly 50% in the three years after sentencing. Photograph: designer491/Alamy

Last month, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority sent out a press release boasting of its success in having three fraudsters running an investment scam convicted and sentenced to jail terms totalling more than 24 years.

It caught my attention because convictions for financial crimes are painfully rare – and significant jail terms rarer still.