Fraud & Business Crime

Anti Bribery and Corruption advisory services

The 2010 UK Bribery Act (UKBA) has wide-ranging powers to punish individuals and commercial organisations for giving and receiving bribes, or failing to prevent bribery. Commitment to preventing bribery within any organisation must come from the top, with risk assessments, policies and procedures documented, implemented and periodically reviewed to ensure they are effective.

If a person who performs services for or on behalf of a commercial organisation commits bribery, then that organisation is exposed to a failure to prevent offence, unless it can demonstrate it had adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

Commercial organisations face very significant fines, reputational harm, debarment from public procurement contracts and civil recovery orders in the event of conviction.

We can advise on mitigating the risk of bribery and corruption, including due diligence on third parties, and review your policies and procedures. If you suspect any of your employees, subsidiaries or agents has committed bribery, we can advise on carrying out an internal investigation . We have successfully defended UKBA allegations for clients and avoided prosecution.

We have developed strong relationships with independent former senior police investigators to enhance our expertise and work with a network of lawyers in multiple jurisdictions to advise on local laws and procedures. If your company has been a victim of corruption, we can help bring a private prosecution and our Asset Recovery team can work to trace and recover your assets.`

Criminal fraud

We represent individuals and companies under investigation or being prosecuted for alleged criminal fraud.. We cover the full range of complex fraud matters, including:

• tax, duty and VAT evasion,
• copyright theft,
• insurance and mortgage fraud,
• money laundering,
• false accounting and conspiracy to defraud.

We aim to be involved from the very outset and bring cases to conclusion at the earliest opportunity, ideally before charges are brought, but if necessary to the conclusion of proceedings. We advise on dawn raids, arrest, search/seizure of records and legal professional privilege material, interviews under caution and under compulsion, restraint of assets and trial, through to confiscation and if required, appeal.

We have considerable experience in cross-border and multi-agency criminal investigations, supported by on our network of lawyers in multiple jurisdictions. To complement our service, our team works closely with others in the firm, including dispute resolution and intellectual property.

Criminal Restraint and Confiscation Orders

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 enables agencies, including the police, HMRC, the Serious Fraud Office or Trading Standards, to restrain or freeze the assets of individuals under criminal investigation pending the outcome of a trial. If a person or a company is convicted of a relevant offence, sentencing will almost always include confiscation proceedings to recover the proceeds of crime.

Restraint of assets can happen at the start of any investigation and extend to assets overseas, company assets and any jointly held assets. Restraint orders can and often do remain in force throughout protracted investigations and later trials, significantly impacting personal and business life.

They can, however, be varied or discharged.  We represent clients subject to restraint and confiscation proceedings and have advised in several leading cases over the past two decades, including a case taken to the Supreme Court.

Private prosecution

With increasing cuts to funding for UK law enforcement, ensuring redress for victims of crime, including economic or cyber-crime, is less certain than ever before.  Under UK law, anyone can bring a private prosecution, and this is increasingly seen as a potentially more cost and time-efficient approach. The CPS also has the right to take over a private prosecution once commenced.

We can take on your private prosecution brief. We combine criminal litigation experience with a well-resourced civil litigation department and can also bring in specialists who have UK policing experience in asset-tracing and investigation. For cross-border investigations, we can call on our connections with a network of overseas lawyers to ensure we pursue your case effectively.