Recent Cases

• Operation Tennyson [Southwark] 2020

  International 'Phishing' Fraud

  Jeffery Israel led Phoebe Bragg in this 5 month case involving over 250,000 pages of evidence.  Defendants accused of international ‘phishing’ fraud and subsequent money laundering. Vast quantities of banking and telephone evidence as the monies were layered from the UK, onto Nigeria via China, giving rise to multi-jurisdictional issues and disclosure requests.

• R v. N & ors [Newcastle] 2020

  Fraudulent Evasion of Duty

  Sam Willis was instructed as led-junior in this 12-handed tobacco importation matter. The overall duty evaded was calculated to be over £2.6 million. Preparation for the case required extensive analysis of mobile telephone billing data.

• R v. JO’C [Kingston] 2019

  £1m Fraud

  Gregory Fishwick acted for this Defendant who was one of three people accused of defrauding a vulnerable elderly male of his life savings and his home to a total value of over £1Million.  His name had appeared on the original conveyance file as the purchaser at a significant undervalue (£20,000) and he was also identified as being involved in the later transfer of title.  Despite both other Defendants pleading guilty during the course of the trial, Gregory secured a unanimous acquittal for his client. Instructed by Paul Martin Solicitors.

• R v. G & ors [Southwark] 2019

  Conspiring to defraud the Legal Aid Agency and perverting the course of justice

  Natasha Wong QC leading Merry Van Woodenberg of 2 Hare Court acted for a Compliance Manager acquitted of conspiring to defraud the Legal Aid Agency and perverting the course of justice. The defendant was the Compliance Manager of a London firm of immigration solicitors who was alleged to have played a central role in a scheme to create and submit fraudulent claims to the Legal Aid Agency ( LAA, previously the Legal Services Commission) over a 6 year period. The Compliance Manager , a former employee of the LAA, was also said to have been instrumental in misleading them through correspondence and telephone calls during the course of the  investigation. The Crown had alleged the firm made over 4000 fraudulent claims on behalf of bogus clients, creating convincing forgeries of documents belonging to genuine clients in support of purported genuine  applications to the Home Office . This scheme comprised 40% of the firm’s income from the Legal Aid Agency over that period. The Crown’s had estimated the total value of the fraud at about £4 million.The client was acquitted by the jury in under an hour of deliberations. 

  The principals of the firm were convicted of the conspiracy last year.

  Instructed by Graeme Hydari of Hodge Jones and Allen. 

   

• R v Anwar Hussain & ors [Southwark] 2019

  MTIC Fraud

  Jonathan Polnay led William Davis in this long running MTIC fraud involving five companies and tax losses of around £13M. There were multiple trading chains supported by a wealth of forged documentation, and the proceeds of the fraud were transferred offshore via banks in Eastern Europe and Hong Kong. 

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Notable Cases

• In the matter of M [Southwark] 2018

  Manipulation of interbank benchmark rates

  Natasha Wong QC acted for former derivatives trader in regulatory proceedings brought by the FCA and in criminal proceedings involving the alleged dishonest manipulation of interbank benchmark rates. Instructed by Withers Worldwide/Sternberg Reed.

• Operation Lunar [Birmingham] 2017

  £Multi-Million HMRC Tax Avoidance Prosecution

  Sarah Forshaw QC and Robert Ellison acted in the defence of this defendant charged with 10 others of a multi-million pound  conspiracy to cheat HMRC. The fraud centred around multiple tax avoidance schemes. The charges were dismissed against our client following legal argument. The trial on the remaining defendants is listed for 6 months in 2019. Instructed by King and Spalding LLP.

• Operation Canon [Southwark] 2016

  £80m Ponzi Scheme

  Sarah Forshaw QC, instructed by the SFO, successfully prosecuted this £80m "Ponzi" scheme. The defendants purported to be a successful supplier of electrical goods such as light bulbs, air conditioning units, trouser presses and televisions to major hotel chains such as the Marriott and Hilton. They also falsely claimed to be the preferred supplier of the Olympic village, ahead of the 2012 Games.

  https://www.sfo.gov.uk/2016/05/24/ponzi-fraudsters-sentenced-total-21-years/

• Operation Cent [C.C.C.] 2013

  Anti-corruption unit worldwide investigation re: bomb detection units

  Jonathan Higgs QC leading Jonathan Polnay represented a defendant in the much publicised Old Bailey trial involving the worldwide sale of "fake" bomb detection devices. Instructed by Gary Bloxsome of Blackfords LLP.

  BBC news report here.

• HMRC v Peter Storrie [Southwark] 2011

  Former chief executive of Portsmouth City Football Club accused of cheating the public revenue

  Natasha Wong QC was junior trial counsel for acquitted former chief executive of Portsmouth City Football Club accused of cheating the public revenue. Instructed by Paul Martin & Co.