Serious and
complex fraud matters

Janes Solicitors were instructed by nine past and present executives surrounding the investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of bribery and corruption. A keynote investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into one of the UK’s leading companies.

Representing the lead defendant in an alleged pension liberation fraud valued in excess of £9 million and involving over 800 victims Nationwide. The case raised significant public policy consideration due to the impact on public as a result of pension liberation promotion by the Government and the huge rise in the number of frauds related to the same.

Large Trading Standards prosecution of a web developer who designed copycat Government websites. The value of the case was in excess of £30m and involved significant and complex technological and IT elements.  Janes also assisted in the defendant’s dealings with the Advertising Standards Agency.

Representing a solicitor in connection with the SFO inquiry in respect of ENRC where he has been charged with offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act and forgery at Southwark Crown Court.

Reporting:

• Law Society Gazette
• City AM

Successfully representing our client in respect of an allegations of forgery and money laundering of £266 million, which was linked with the FCA prosecution against National Westminster Bank in relation to funds deposited into National Westminster Bank.

Reporting:

• The Times
• The Telegraph
• The Guardian
• The Sun
• The Independent

Successfully representing a client charged with fraud in relation to the mis-sale of carbon credits as investment products to the retail market. The defendants were acquitted following successful objection by a Defence Counsel to the qualifications and status of the prosecution ‘expert’ witness.

Reporting:

• The Guardian
• The Independent
• BBC

High profile acquittal of our client, a former ICAP broker and a key defendant (referred to as “Lord Libor”) in the Serious Fraud Office prosecution concerning alleged criminal manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a ‘benchmark rate’ that underpins about $350 trillion of financial products worldwide. This case was extremely high-profile and complex, with disclosure from over twenty global banking institutes and referenced millions of financial trades across multiple jurisdictions.  Janes were the only defence team to utilise industry financial academic expert Professor Neuberger to challenge ‘rate setting’ manipulation allegations.

Reporting:

• The Guardian
• Bloomberg
• ITV

Successful representation of the Deputy Editor of the Sun newspaper in the ‘phone hacking trial’. Our client was acquitted of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office following charges brought under the auspices of Operation Elveden and Operation Weeting, the investigation into the legality of journalistic practices at News Group Newspapers. The charges were unique in legal history, in that there was no such similar prosecution which examined the conduct of a newspaper and its staff as a whole. The legal issues were therefore complex and opaque – involving a thorough examination of the concept of a conspiracy, the meaning of the substantive offence of committing misconduct and broadening out to examination of the impact on the defendant’s human rights under Article 6 of the ECHR.

The case naturally attracted widespread national publicity and was reported across all the major national newspapers. As a result of this prosecution and the issues raised during the trial the Law Commission conducted its own investigation into the viability and appropriateness of using this offence in prosecutions against journalists.   

Reporting:

• BBC
• Daily Mail

Representing the director of a number of companies in an ongoing investigation and ancillary restraint proceedings brought under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The long-running investigation is being conducted by multiple police forces and HMRC and is focussed upon alleged offences of bribery and corruption, fraud, money laundering and tax evasion alleged to involve a number of suspects including persons from a major UK trade union.

Reporting:

• Unite

Our client was a prominent politician investigated in respect of a series of allegations of electoral offences contrary to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

Reporting:

• BBC
• Belfast Telegraph
• Irish News

Representing a director accused of fraudulent trading involving the mis-selling of financial products up to £100m, in the longest fraud trial during lockdown. This was the first carbon credit case to be prosecuted following the very public discrediting of the Prosecution expert Andrew Agar.

Reporting:

• Evening Standard
• The Telegraph
• Gov.uk
• BBC

Successfully representing Jason and Justin Drummond, two brothers connected with running of AIM-listed company Media-Corp who faced a private prosecution brought by a shareholder alleging fraud. Successfully applied for summons to be withdrawn in the Magistrates Court. In addition, and unusually for a Defendant in a private prosecution, a defence costs order was awarded against the ‘Prosecutor’.

Reporting:

• The Telegraph

Janes Solicitors represented a lead defendant in a seven-handed conspiracy to cheat HMRC in what has been described as one of the ‘largest direct taxation frauds in the UK’ amounting to over £268m tax at risk. The underlying business related to green projects for Research and Development across the globe and environmental carbon trading with investments by hundreds of High Net Worth Individuals.

Reporting:

• The Telegraph
• Daily Mail

Acquittal of our client, the lead defendant in a 15-handed conspiracy to defraud mortgage fraud investigated by the Economic Crime Department of the City of London Police. The case involved several well-known high-street banking institutions, including Barclays Private Clients International and complex offshore and international property transactions using trusts. The combined value of the alleged frauds were £40m.

Reporting:

• BSB

Representing a former KPMG Partner alleged to have cheated HMRC in investment schemes. This case concerned ‘arrangements’ allegedly designed to create tax losses approaching £150 million for high net worth individuals seeking to reduce tax bills by making claims for relief on capital losses under ss. 131 and 132 of the Income Tax Act 2007.

Reporting:

• Financial Times
• Reuters

High profile acquittal of former RBS banker in the first HMRC prosecution against investors in film schemes.  The case attracted extensive media attention as it sent shockwaves through the tax advisory industry as investors were also now being targeted. One of a series of three trials prosecuting thirteen defendants including the financial advisor, founder and promoter, investors and film directors.

The case was unusual in that in one trial a genuine film was made, and the other film productions were used as a smoke screen to camouflage grossly inflated invoices. This particular trial turned on falsified diary entries for the bogus film productions where money was transferred across multiple jurisdictions and accounts to disguise the circular nature of the scheme financing. This is another case which demonstrates our firm’s role at the vanguard of white-collar criminal defence work.

Reporting:

• Bloomberg
• Financial Times

High profile acquittal of our client, the CEO and Founder of pioneering Fibre Optic Communications and Technology companies, H2O Networks Ltd and i3 Group Limited in the Serious Fraud Office prosecution valued at over £160 million.  The case involved complex invoice factoring and alleged forgery of high value contracts and attracted widespread publicity. Janes instructed a forensic computer expert to challenge the fabrication of several key contracts on the basis of cross ‘user access’ to office computers.

Reporting:

• SFO
• Citywire
• SFO

Known as the ‘Jubilee Line Corruption Trial’ (Wikipedia), Janes Solicitors represented a key defendant in one of the most iconic fraud and corruption cases of modern times. This was in respect of a £60 million fraud in connection with the extension of London Underground’s Jubilee line. The trial started in June 2003 and continued for 21 months before collapsing in March 2005.

Reporting:

• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• BBC

This was a major HMRC prosecution of a leading tax accountant engaged in what was said to be a systematic long-term fraud against HMRC on behalf of clients, himself and his associates. The client was the ‘accountant to the stars’, counting Jeremy Paxman and Fiona Bruce amongst his 7,000 clients. The case involved the manipulation of the tax affairs of clients running to over £117m.

Reporting:

• The Guardian
• Evening Standard
• Taxation

Arguably the most highly publicised fraud trial of the decade and certainly the first of its kind, Janes Solicitors represented the high profile jockey Fergal Lynch who was charged with six others, including six-time British Champion jockey Kieren Fallon, with a conspiracy to defraud Betfair customers by fixing races.  Following submissions in which Janes Solicitors took a leading role at the end of the prosecution case all defendants were acquitted after the Judge ruled there was no case to answer.  This was a huge victory after a lengthy investigation and prosecution.

Reporting:

• The Times
• Daily Mail

In what was the ‘trial of the year 2013’ Janes Solicitors represented both Grillo sisters accused of fraudulently spending over £685,000 on the credit cards of Charles Saatchi’s private company while working as personal assistants to Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi.  Both sisters were acquitted on charges of fraud.  The case attracted unprecedented world media interest, appearing on the global news every day for over a month and headlining the world press.

Reporting:

• The Guardian
• The Express

We represented a Petty Naval Officer before Mr. Justice Saunders at the Central Criminal Court in respect of alleged breaches of the Official Secrets Act.  This case has been widely reported in the national and international press.

Reporting:

• BBC