Financial and Business Crime Defence

I practise from 2BR, one of the leading sets for serious fraud, financial crime, and complex business investigations. I regularly act in high-value and multi-defendant cases involving allegations of fraud, money laundering, and regulatory wrongdoing.

I have extensive experience defending allegations including business, tax, VAT,  and MTIC fraud, money laundering, excise and alcohol diversion fraud, long-firm fraud, mortgage and insurance fraud, benefit fraud, immigration scams, and complex conspiracies prosecuted by specialist agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office and HMRC.

Much of my work involves cases with:

  • vast volumes of financial and banking material

  • disclosure disputes

  • asset tracing and confiscation proceedings

  • parallel investigations.

I am known for getting quickly to the heart of a case. I combine detailed forensic analysis with creative and strategic thinking, while maintaining an approachable, calm manner with clients facing extremely high-stakes allegations.

Selected Financial Crime Cases

The following examples illustrate the range and complexity of the cases in which I have been instructed.

Serious Fraud and Complex Conspiracies

  • Operation Berg Meeker / Operation Bygone – A nine-month trial involving allegations of large-scale immigration and tax fraud said to have generated £13 million. I represented a trainee barrister alleged to have organised and run the scheme.

  • SFO prosecution – non-existent factory investment fraud – Defended a client accused of conspiring to obtain hundreds of thousands of pounds from overseas investors in respect of a factory that did not exist.

  • £42 million money laundering (Operation Converge) – Lead counsel for one of the principal defendants in a four-month trial arising from an NCA investigation into people trafficking and money laundering. My client was acquitted of all but one minor charge and was the only defendant to avoid imprisonment.

Money Laundering and Asset-Based Offending

  • OCG money laundering – Represented a client accused of conspiring to remove £54million in cash from the UK to Dubai.

  • Professional money laundering allegation – Represented a client accused of advertising money laundering services online, involving complex banking evidence and unexplained wealth analysis.

  • High-value stolen vehicles and terrorism-linked investigation – Defended a client accused of disguising criminal property through the importation of stolen luxury vehicles, exposing a loophole in UK vehicle registration procedures.

  • Cloned card and proceeds of crime trial – Five-week trial involving large-scale money laundering, possession of criminal property, and mortgage fraud.

Fraud, Confiscation, and Abuse of Process

  • £50 million alcohol diversion fraud (Operation Carina) – Successfully defended in a major Customs and Excise prosecution. The case collapsed following abuse of process arguments, disclosure failures, and evidence integrity issues, calling into question a number of linked prosecutions.

  • MTIC fraud confiscation proceedings – Instructed to contest confiscation following conviction. The prosecution sought £3.4 million; the court ordered £13,000.

  • Mortgage fraud multi-defendant trial – Prosecution abandoned the case against my client on the second day of trial following legal submissions and disclosure requests.

  • Crash for Crash –  led Conall Bailie from 2BR in defence of a client accused of setting up sham companies and conspiring with others to defraud insurers in a professional crash for cash scam. Long running disclosure and abuse of process arguments eventually led to the case being halted.

  • Insurance fraud – staged death overseas – Represented a defendant who admitted fraud involving a £2.2 million life policy and secured a favourable sentence.

  • Cigarette smuggling and money laundering – Achieved a favourable sentence and avoided confiscation proceedings. Subsequently represented the same client in a large-scale drug importation trial, resulting in acquittal.

London