Thomas Jenkins
Tom is Of Counsel in RPC's Tax, Investigations and Financial Crime team. He has extensive experience in conducting anti-corruption investigations and advising on the implementation and enhancement of compliance programmes.
He advises individual and corporate clients facing a wide range of financial crime and regulatory defence challenges, including multi-jurisdictional investigations and prosecutions involving bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering and market abuse.
Tom acts for clients in a broad range of sectors with particular experience in engineering, heavy industry, construction, aviation, oil and gas, finance, commodities trading and healthcare.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2010
Experience
- Debevoise & Plimpton (2008 - 2022)
Membership
- Association of Corporate Investigators
Qualification
- Ancient and Modern History (2002 - 2005)
Education
- University of Oxford (2002 - 2005)
9 Contributions by Thomas Jenkins
PRACTICE NOTES
Applying for and challenging Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 production orders: criteria, dominant purpose, candour, procedure and case law (England and Wales)
Production orders
A production order allows authorities to obtain material connected to an identified person or business, such as bank records and correspondence. The individual named must either deliver the specified material to an officer or permit that officer to access it. The order can be served on a person or an institution, and may extend to authorising entry to premises to reach the material. This mechanism is available for all forms of ‘investigation’, including confiscation, civil recovery, money laundering, exploitation proceeds, detained cash, detained property, and investigations into frozen funds and cryptoassets.
The dominant purpose test
In R (on the application of Bowles) v Southwark Crown Court, a pre‑POCA ruling, it was decided that production orders could not be secured under the predecessor to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) to further a criminal investigation, including one concerning money laundering; they were limited to confiscation investigations. The test asked whether the ‘true and dominant’ purpose of the application was to obtain evidence in support of a confiscation investigation; if not, an order...
Corporate Crime
PRACTICE NOTES
Directors’ statutory declarations of solvency in members’ voluntary liquidations: offence, evidential presumption, requirements and sentencing (England and Wales)
Under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986), a company director commits a criminal offence by making a statutory declaration that a company is solvent without reasonable grounds. The case can be tried in either the magistrates' court or the Crown Court...
Corporate Crime
PRACTICE NOTES
False representations to creditors in winding up: offence by company officers (including shadow directors), elements, dishonesty test and penalties under the Insolvency Act 1986
Under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986), it is a criminal offence for any officer of a company, past or present, to obtain creditors’ agreement by deception or by making false statements in connection with a company’s winding up. The matter can be prosecuted in either the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court.
Elements of the offence
a company is in the process of being wound up, whether by the court or voluntarily
the individual is, or has previously been, an officer of the company
they make a false representation, or
they perpetrate fraud
for the purpose of obtaining the creditors’ consent
to an agreement concerning the company’s affairs or to the winding up, and
they are deemed to have committed the offence if, prior to the winding up, they made any false representation or engaged in any other fraud for that purpose
Winding up of a company
This offence concerns misconduct occurring during the liquidation of a company or while the winding up is in progress...
Corporate Crime
PRACTICE NOTES
Insolvency Act 1986 s207: Transactions in Fraud of Creditors by Company Officers—Offence, Defences (burdens and time limits), Alternative Charge (s206) and Sentencing
Offence of making transactions in fraud of creditors
Any current or former officer of a company that is being wound up by court order, or has resolved to wind up voluntarily, is regarded as having committed an offence if, whilst in office, they:
made, or procured to be made, any gift, transfer, or charge over the company’s property, or caused or connived in the levying of any execution against the company’s property; or
concealed or removed any part of the company’s property after, or within two months before, the date an unsatisfied judgment or order for the payment of money was obtained against the company.
The case may be heard in the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court. A shadow director is not treated as an officer for the purposes of this offence. A person ‘causes’ something to be done when they instruct or direct that it be done.
Statutory defence for transactions in fraud of creditors
There is a statutory defence available to a defendant who proves...
Corporate Crime
PRACTICE NOTES
Practical strategies for challenging private prosecutions in England and Wales: pre-summons applications, abuse of process, judicial review, CPS intervention, procedural non-compliance, disclosure and costs
This Practice Note outlines the key principal themes and practical considerations when contesting private prosecutions in practice. It should be read together with Practice Note: Bringing a private prosecution—practical considerations, which provides a practical guide to initiating a private prosecution in practice.
Routes to defending private prosecutions
The right to commence a private prosecution is an important one in law, and many such cases will be properly brought and overseen by the prosecutor from the outset. If that is not so, the defence has a number of avenues open to it to effectively and robustly challenge the proceedings. Many of these mirror those available in public prosecutions; however, certain aspects are specific to private prosecutions...
Corporate Crime
PRACTICE NOTES
Private Prosecutions in England and Wales: Practical Guidance on Duties, Abuse of Process, Costs, Investigations, DPP Takeover, Laying Informations, Summons and Disclosure
This Practice Note sets out a concise and accessible overview of the principal considerations when pursuing a private prosecution. It is intended as a practical aid for anyone contemplating commencing a private prosecution matter. For a general primer on private prosecutions, consult the Practice Note: Private prosecutions—an introductory guide.
Starting a private prosecution—initial considerations
A private prosecutor may act in person, or may appoint lawyers to manage and conduct the proceedings for them. The points below are among the first issues the lawyers and private prosecutors (the private prosecution team) should carefully weigh when deciding whether to commence a private prosecution.
Duties of the private prosecutor and prosecution team
A private prosecutor bears the same obligation as a public prosecutor to properly fulfil the role of a minister of justice. To meet this obligation, prosecutors—while not compelled—ought to seek to follow the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Code for Crown Prosecutors. Lawyers conducting private prosecutions should uphold the utmost integrity, and are required to act in the public interest rather than serve the interests of the instructing client...
Corporate Crime
CHECKLISTS
Criminal advocates’ practical checklist for remote hearings in England and Wales: preparation, CVP/VHS access, DCS/DARTS, conferences, court dress, formalities, and video/telephone conduct
This Checklist
This Checklist sets out essential, hands-on advice for criminal practitioners who need to take part in hearings held via live audio or live video links. Read it alongside the Practice Note: Practical guide to remote hearings in the criminal courts, which contains fuller step-by-step assistance on, for example, preparation in advance, technology considerations, and participation in the hearing itself through platforms including the dedicated Cloud Video Platform (CVP) and the Video Hearings Service (VHS). Be aware that VHS is not yet fully rolled out across England and Wales. It was withdrawn from service in July 2024 to resolve stability problems, and HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) has stated it plans to reinstate it after completing a scheduled handover to a new service provider. When back in use, local courts will notify users of the start of VHS hearings, and access details will arrive from an ‘HMCTS.reform.net’ email address. The Lord Chief Justice has issued guidance on advocates’ remote attendance in the Crown Court, and every practitioner should ensure they are familiar with it as a matter of routine...
Corporate Crime
CHECKLISTS
Defence mitigation at sentencing: practitioner checklist, key factors, character and medical evidence, and practical tips (England and Wales)
How a sentence is reached
When passing sentence, the court typically weighs the statutory sentencing range, the relevant Sentencing Council (SC) guidance—including any offence‑specific guideline—the overarching guidance, and sentencing authorities from the Court of Appeal. The SC’s offence‑specific or general guideline provides a mandatory step‑by‑step method the court must apply. See Practice Notes: Sentences imposed following conviction and Sentencing Council General Guideline—Overarching Principles. In most cases the court will consider:
the appropriate starting point within the Sentencing Guidelines
any aggravating features of the offence
mitigation and the defendant’s personal circumstances
any discount for a guilty plea
whether the offender is dangerous and presents a significant risk of harm through further specified offences
any suitable ancillary orders
the totality of the sentence to ensure proportionality to the offending behaviour
Mitigation
The SC’s guidelines, together with the general guideline, contain non‑exhaustive examples of mitigating factors that may lead the court to reduce the sentence...
Corporate Crime
CHECKLISTS
Private Prosecutions in England and Wales: Practitioner Checklist on Advantages, Risks, Costs and Procedural Duties
This Checklist is intended to support solicitors advising on private prosecutions, and private prosecutors themselves, by outlining the principal advantages, challenges and pitfalls of private prosecutions, setting these alongside other forms of redress to provide clear illustration of how private prosecutions compare in practice overall.
Advantages of bringing a private prosecution
Key reasons to select a private prosecution over a public prosecution or a civil fraud claim include:
the capacity to commence proceedings in circumstances where public prosecutors decline to act
Private prosecutions are frequently commenced when public prosecutors refuse to bring charges against the prospective defendant...
Corporate Crime
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