In what was to be a key test of prosecutors’ vigor and effectiveness, one of Britain’s largest corruption prosecutions went down in flames on Tuesday, marking yet another reversal for the beleaguered Serious Fraud Office in London.
A month after the trial began, the economic crimes agency told a judge at Southwark Crown Court that it could offer no evidence against the Anglo-Canadian billionaire Victor P.M. Dahdaleh, who had been charged with funneling tens of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Bahrain between 2001 and 2006.