Fraud (Criminal)
25.11.19
Deferred Prosecution Agreements: Sword of Damocles or joke shop dagger?
Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) were brought into being in 2014 by the Crime and Courts Act 2013. They are supposedly a way of recognising criminal conduct in large companies where such conduct was either conducted or sanctioned by senior management. In return for a recognition that criminal conduct had taken place and a commitment to…
Read more10.10.19
Brett Wilson LLP and its lawyers recommended in Chambers and Partners 2020 directory
Brett Wilson LLP’s Defamation/Reputation Management and Criminal Defence teams have again been recommended by the prestigious Chambers and Partners directory. Partners Iain Wilson (noted for ‘finding solutions to problems that appear impenetrable’) and Max Campbell (described as ‘well regarded in the market for his notable expertise’) have been ranked as leading lawyers in Defamation/Reputation Management. …
Read more27.09.19
Brett Wilson LLP’s departments and lawyers ranked as leaders in their fields in the Legal 500
Brett Wilson LLP has been ranked in three categories in the prestigious Legal 500 directory of leading law firms:- Reputation Management Professional Discipline Crime (General) In addition, media law partners Iain Wilson (described as an ‘innovator’) and Max Campbell (‘thoughtful, high-quality lawyer’) and solicitors Tom Double and Elisabeth Mason have been individually recognised by the directory….
Read more3.09.19
Bitcoin seized as ‘realisable assets’ in confiscation proceedings
A convicted computer hacker has been ordered to pay back over £900,000 of Bitcoin under a Confiscation Order. Grant West, 27, was arrested in September 2017 following a lengthy police investigation, codename ‘Operation Draba’ unearthing the activities of West on the dark web using the alias ‘Courvoisier’. West used phishing emails to carry out cyber-attacks…
Read more20.08.19
Is police detection of crime actually falling?
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice in July 2019 (here) revealed that the number of people being either prosecuted or handed out-of-court disposals has fallen to its lowest level since records began, despite a well-publicised rise in crime. Home Office data revealed that the total proportion of “crimes” which resulted in a suspect being…
Read more18.06.19
Solicitor sanctioned for inadvertently aiding fraudulent football club bid
Richard Quinn of Riley Hayes Solicitors has been fined £5,000 by the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal (‘SDT’) for making reckless misrepresentations in a letter utilised in a fraudulent bid to purchase Hartlepool United Football Club (‘HUFC’). The investigation into Mr Quinn’s conduct followed the conviction of ‘Mr M’, a business man and former director of Swindon…
Read more21.03.19
The Criminal Caution: Can it still be relied on?
“You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you fail to mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence” Anyone questioned as a suspect of a criminal offence in England and Wales should hear and understand this…
Read more26.11.18
Revised Code for Crown Prosecutors introduced
The Code for Crown Prosecutors has been revised as of October 2018 (‘the Code’) and is now in its eighth edition. The outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders unveiled amendments to the Code which she said were vital to ensure ‘defendants and complainants have trust in the criminal justice system and the public has…
Read more5.11.18
Aaron Banks, Leave.EU, the NCA and the Electoral Commission
Last week, the Electoral Commission referred Brexit campaigner Aaron Banks, his 2016 organisation Leave.EU, and his senior colleague Liz Bilney to the National Crime Agency (NCA). The purpose of the investigation is to discover whether electoral laws were broken regarding Leave.EU’s referendum funding during 2016, and also whether Mr Banks and Ms Bilney knowingly concealed…
Read more16.09.18
Clarity on Legal Professional Privilege from the Court of Appeal
In The Director of The Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2006 the Court of Appeal was asked to determine whether certain documents created during the course of an internal company investigation were subject to legal professional privilege. In April 2013, the Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) commenced a criminal…
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Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice.