Should GMTV executives be tried for fraud?

Following on from today’s earlier post about the £2m GMTV fine, ‘critics’ (not entirely sure who they are as yet) are apparently asking why, if the fine was so huge, that the Police were not involved. So reports Channel4’s Snowmail newsletter this evening:

The TV station GMTV has been fined £2m for running a phone in quiz that thousands of viewers could never actually win and which netted the company some £30m. It seems that Ofcom could have levied £4m out of the company, but because efforts had been made to offer refunds to the victims, they reduced the fine.

But critics are asking, given that this happened on a grand scale, why the police have not been involved. Could it be termed a fraud? The same critics are suggesting that there are people in this saga who, in any other context, would have gone to jail.

The police are reported to believe that to pursue the case might cost a considerable sum and might not serve the public interest.

The Crown Prosecution Service tell us that they have not been asked to act by Ofcom. We are still trying to get an explanation from Ofcom as to why they have not passed the entire file to the CPS and demanded action.

I think it’s a fair point. Is ‘systematic deception’ fraudulent behaviour?