Current Cases:

• Advising former solicitor involved in multi million pound overseas property investment fraud (pre charge). Advising on warrants, seizure of privilege material and restraint matters connected to the ongoing investigation.
• Advising company in relation to a private prosecution arising from a large scale fraud committed upon the company by a sub – contracting company.
• Acting as Sole Counsel prosecuting a former accountant involved in investment fraud committed on his client base over several years.

Recent Cases:

• Represented the main defendant in a large scale money laundering fraud involving funds in excess of £100m
• Instructed by the defence to successful oppose an HMRC application for a production order against a successful group of companies
• Representing a defendant in a £1m cash seizure case being pursued via POCA proceedings
• Prosecuting a large scale money laundering and fraud case involving the targeting of an elderly victim
• R v S – reported case in the Court of Appeal relating to the revisiting of a confiscation order made against a successful businessmen
• R v N – successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal the imposition of a £3 million confiscation order against the defendant. The order subsequently reduced to £30,000.
• Prosecuted successfully a multi handed “push payment” fraud committed upon a vulnerable victim
• Advising a company and its directors in one of the first ever prosecutions brought by the The Pension Regulator under the Computer Misuse Act.
• Acted as Leading Counsel prosecuting a million pound fraud committed by a Managing Director of a large agro – industrial company.
• Advised high net worth individual off shore pre charge in relation to alleged bankruptcy fraud.
• Advised law firm who had been the victim of a cyber fraud attack by third parties.

Cases of Note:

• R v HP – instructed as Leading Junior Counsel to represent a defendant involved in a £33 million MTIC fraud.
• R v MM – instructed as Sole Junior Counsel to represent a defendant accused of involvement in an £8 million indirect tax fraud
• R v AM – instructed to represent a company and its director of allegations concerning false accounting arising from a trading standards investigation into the misuse of a government backed energy saving scheme. Defendant was acquitted.
• R v ML – instructed to represent a defendant accused of large scale conspiracy to defraud car finance companies.
• Re CO – instructed to represent a financial professional in relation to a historical investigation conducted by the Financial Ombudsman concerning allegations of pension mis-selling.
• Re X – instructed to advise several off shore based financial professionals in relation to money laundering compliance issues and the impact upon their business of provisions in the Criminal Finances Act
• R v RF – instructed to represent a defendant in his restraint and confiscation proceedings arising from the Vantis tax avoidance litigation.
• R v WG – instructed as Led Junior for the defence (confiscation proceedings) in a £250 million investment fraud arising from the Imperial Consolidated prosecution.

Confiscation Law

Recent Cases:

• R v S – instructed by the defence to oppose the application by the prosecution to revisit a historical confiscation order. Case involved issues of Public Interest Immunity and the cross examination of police officers ‘in camera’. Case reported at R v S [2019] EWCA Crim 569, [2019] All ER (D) 44 (Apr).
• R v Z – instructed to represent the interests of a third party asserting their rights in a parcel of land owned by an off shore trust based in the Caribbean.
• R v X – instructed as new counsel to conduct confiscation proceedings in the Crown Court and in the Court of Appeal. Successfully reduced a criminal benefit figure from in excess of £3 million to just in excess of £30,000. After losing the initial hearing, the confiscation order was successfully quashed on appeal and at the new hearing the prosecution conceded the argument.
• R v D – instructed as new counsel to conduct confiscation proceedings concerning a £2 million VAT fraud and Fraudulent Trading case involving allegations involving a substantial amount of hidden assets in excess of £300,000.
• R v M – instructed to discharge a pre charge restraint order imposed against several defendants allegedly involved in an illegal lottery being operated via social media.
• R v K – instructed to discharge a restraint order levelled against a defendant facing allegations of a large scale and wide ranging plant equipment fraud.
• R v K – instructed as new counsel to represent a former VAT inspector convicted of a £750,000 VAT fraud.

Previous Cases of Note:

• R v F – instructed to represent as sole counsel [against Queen’s Counsel] a tax consultant convicted of being the architect of a tax avoidance scheme. Dealt with the restraint, confiscation and related civil proceedings in the Crown Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.
• R v A – instructed as Led Junior to represent a chartered accountant in his confiscation proceedings following his conviction for a £150 million Ponzi scheme.
• R v P – instructed as Leading Counsel to represent a defendant in a £35 million MTIC Fraud and the resulting confiscation proceedings involving issues of third party interests in relation to numerous properties,
• R v M – instructed as sole counsel to represent a defendant accused of an £8 million direct and indirect tax fraud arising from the CIS construction scheme.
• R v S – instructed as new counsel to represent a defendant accused of having £2.5 million in hidden assets based in the UAE.
• R v Axworthy – one of the first reported cases on the issue of proportionality in confiscation cases. Case reported at [2012] EWCA Crim 2889

Criminal and Regulatory Appeals

Cases of note:

• R v S – instructed as sole junior counsel to conduct an appeal against the imposition of a revised confiscation order which involved issues surrounding Public Interest Immunity (PII) due to the importance of the case it is a reported decision and can be found at R v S [2019] EWCA Crim 569, [2019] All ER (D) 44 (Apr).
• Re X – instructed as Led Junior Counsel to advise upon case stated and judicial review proceedings in an off shore jurisdiction involving allegations of governmental corruption.
• Re a company – instructed to represent a company in the First Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal of the Regulatory Chamber concerning a challenge towards the level of financial penalty imposed by the Information Commissioner.
• R v N – instructed as sole junior counsel to conduct an appeal against the imposition of a confiscation order. The appeal was successful and the original order sought by the Prosecution of £3 million was eventually reduced to £31,500.
• R v N – instructed as sole junior counsel to conduct an appeal against conviction in relation to a large scale fraud based on the failings of the appellant’s solicitors at trial to prepare his case effectively and thoroughly due to a conflict of interest which only became known to the appellant post his conviction.