The Serious Fraud Office, the government body responsible for exposing fraudsters and highlighting financial errors, has itself been caught out, by billions of pounds. In its annual report published today, the SFO has mistakenly claimed its budget for the 2008-09 financial year was £51.5bn instead of £51.5m. It has accidentally overrun its figures by an extra 1,000, bringing to light that this managed to slip through a team of highly trained experts. The SFO is currently investigating 84 cases, up from 65 last year, as the financial crisis has seen a need for the department to crack down on fraud. Yet despite this, its budget for the next year is dropping to £43.4m. Last week, business secretary Peter Mandelson handed over the MG Rover inquiry to the SFO, which looks into the collapse of the car manufacturer in 2005. It has held a number of other high profile cases this year, including an investigation into recently convicted Bernard Madoff following allegations of a 'ponzi' scheme.