Legal News

What are the key findings of this Report? The Report identifies four principal findings: legislative reform: the previous UK administration introduced sweeping legislative, operational and policy changes to deploy sanctions against kleptocracy. This encompasses creating the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell ( CKC) within the National Crime Agency ( NCA) and setting up a new Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation ( OTSI) fragmented regulatory framework: a major impediment to enforcement is the UK’s fragmented sanctions system. Multiple agencies and their enforcement activity lack a coherent strategy, transparency and coordination limited civil enforcement: there has been little inclination to levy or publicise civil penalties for violations, shown by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) having only ‘named and shamed’ one company and issued a single fine for post‑invasion breaches of the Russian sanctions regime. OFSI and HMRC, which enforce trade sanctions, have tended to prefer gentle...

In this issue: Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Appeal and judicial review Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Lex Talk®Corporate Crime: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers New Q& As Useful information Criminal procedure and evidence Top corporate crime cases to watch for the rest of 2024 Key white-collar matters on the horizon include the SFO’s plan to bring bribery charges against individuals in connection with Glencore’s activities in Nigeria, a landmark bitcoin money laundering trial, and the continuing courtroom clashes between Eurasian Natural Resources Corp ( ENRC) and the SFO. For...

The agency tasked with tackling white-collar crime will not contest an appeal by Anna Machkevitch, daughter of Alexander Machkevitch, one of three billionaire partners who helped found ENRC. Machkevitch is seeking to overturn her conviction for failing to comply with an SFO notice requiring her to produce and hand over papers linked to her father. The SFO, which notified Machkevitch of this decision on 30 July 2024, said it could not delay a reply to her pending the outcome of its own appeal against a High Court judge’s findings that it had encouraged a former Dechert LLP lawyer to reveal the company’s confidential information......

John Gibson, who previously acted as case controller for the SFO’s probe into suspected bribery and corruption by ENRC, faced internal measures by the SFO after sharing separate confidential material. The SFO says that material did not concern ENRC or its criminal inquiry into the miner. Details and outcome of any disciplinary process remain unknown, and ENRC has not suggested he was suspended. Gibson departed the SFO in 2018 to head Cohen & Gresser LLP’s UK white-collar and investigations team. ENRC has brought proceedings against the SFO, Gibson and Anthony Puddick, a senior SFO investigator, alleging they supplied journalists with information to construct a ‘false narrative’ about the company. This admission follows statements by ENRC’s counsel, Anna Boase KC of One Essex Court, set out in court papers released at a High Court hearing on 26 July 2024, ahead of October’s trial, that Gibson was...

In another notable matter, an Osborne Clarke LLP partner is set to appear before a tribunal over allegations of issuing threatening correspondence on behalf of former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi. Law360 surveys these and other corporate crime cases to watch over the next six months. Glencore bribery charges Following repeated postponements, the SFO told a London court in June that it will seek the Attorney General’s permission to bring charges against individuals as it advances its bribery probe into Glencore, the trading and mining company at the centre of the investigation. Opting to pursue individuals is SFO director Nick Ephgrave’s most consequential move since joining the agency in September 2023, signalling his willingness to prosecute international bribery amid an early focus on domestic fraud cases that has fuelled criticism that the office does not have the resources to bring the toughest cases. The...

On 25 July 2024, the City of London Police announced that Wahidullah Usmani profited by £17,600 in total while posing as an insurance broker, touting motor insurance cover quotes with reductions of up to 60% yet supplying policies 'worth less than the paper they were printed on'. Usmani, from north-west London, admitted at Inner London Crown Court on 6 June 2024 to fraud by false representation, conducting a regulated activity without authorisation, and money laundering. The 22-year-old received a 24-month prison term, suspended for 24 months, at the very same court on 24 July 2024. He was further handed a compulsory 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to contribute £1,000 towards costs. Detective Sergeant Phil Corcoran, of the City Police insurance fraud enforcement unit, stated that Usmani also lured targets by offering......

The UK’s SFO will be expected to play a part in recouping billions of pounds’ worth of suspected fraud linked to the pandemic, as the new government set out plans for a new Covid Corruption Commissioner. Rachel Reeves, the country’s new Finance Minister, informed Parliament yesterday that she has initiated the process to appoint this commissioner, aiming to recover significant sums lost to fraud associated with government programmes during the pandemic. Reeves noted that the principal priority will be retrieving money wasted on acquiring Personal Protective Equipment ( PPE) for the NHS......

Former Citigroup and UBS trader Tom Hayes, together with ex- Barclays banker Carlo Palombo, are to make a final attempt to overturn their convictions for submitting false interest rate figures when they appear before the Supreme Court to be heard in the case. In 2015, Hayes was found guilty of a Libor-rigging conspiracy and received an 11-year prison sentence. Palombo was later convicted in 2019 over Euribor manipulation and handed a four-year sentence. UK Supreme Court justices will consider the proper interpretation of the benchmark definitions, after the Court of Appeal stated in May 2024 that their cases raise a point of law of general public importance. At the heart of the issue is whether traders provided a 'genuine or honest answer' when they submitted Libor or Euribor rates while taking account of their own commercial interests. The court also certified that the legal...

In this issue: King’s Speech Decisions to prosecute and alternatives to prosecution Criminal procedure and evidence Appeals and judicial review Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Money laundering International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information King’s Speech Law Society comments on what King’s Speech 2024 means for law and justice The Law Society of England and Wales has set out its view on the 2024 King’s Speech and its implications for law and justice. It welcomes the new government’s focus on the criminal justice system, backs fresh measures to strengthen the response to...

On 23 July 2024, SFO director Ephgrave said that Graham Mc Nulty, an ex-deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police Service, has joined the agency as chief capability officer. Mc Nulty retired from the Met in 2023 and had led the serious and organised crime portfolio. His Linked In profile notes he directed around 2,000 officers tasked with confronting cyber-offences, economic crime and overseas operations. Ephgrave said Mc Nulty would be a significant asset to the Serious Fraud Office, citing his outstanding track record in tackling complex economic crime and in steering large, multidisciplinary teams......

Under a plea agreement lodged with the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and pending judicial approval, Boeing would pay an additional $US243.6m in fines, commit $US455m to bolstering safety and compliance, and place itself under independent oversight for three years. A hearing had been slated for last week; however, federal prosecutors sought extra time to finalise the proposal’s details. The move follows Boeing’s failure to honour the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement ( DPA) it reached with prosecutors in 2021. Under that pact, the company paid over $US2.5bn in penalties and compensation to victims’ families, acknowledging responsibility for two 737 Max crashes in Indonesia (2018) and Ethiopia (2019) that together claimed 346 lives. Boeing was additionally placed under three years of supervision, during which it was, inter alia, to ‘design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics...

Vneshprombank LLC v Bedzhamov; Kireeva (as bankruptcy trustee of Georgy Bedzhamov) v Bedzhamov [2024] EWHC 1048 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? The court’s construction of the Russia ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855, reg 11 (‘ Regulation 11’) is unlikely to surprise criminal practitioners; the real practical weight of the ruling lies in its broader analysis of what amounts to a ‘reasonable cause to suspect’. Regulation 11 imposes an objective yardstick: based on the information actually known to the decision-maker, would a reasonable person suspect the funds are those of a designated person—would, rather than might or could? The court also indicated it would not accept at face value claims that prior owners within a corporate chain had truly relinquished all control. Prepared to look beyond corporate formalities, the judgment sets out useful pointers for...

National Council for Civil Liberties, R ( On the Application of the National Council for Civil Liberties) v Secretary of State for the Home Department What are the practical implications of this case? Appreciating this judgment’s effect will assist practitioners guiding clients who may seek to contest both the vires of regulations and the fairness of an earlier consultation exercise. Ahead of introducing the new Regulations, the Government engaged with law enforcement about the operational consequences of reshaping the law to enlarge the definition of 'serious disruption' so that it encompassed anything 'more than minor'. However, it did not undertake broader consultation with the public or with other organisations or bodies that might have resisted the proposals, despite their adverse ramifications for the civil right of protest. Liberty advanced four grounds of challenge, namely: that the Regulations were ultra vires; that they were ultra vires...

Justice Secretary seeks to remove CCRC chair Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she is seeking to remove Helen Pitcher from her role as chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission ( CCRC) following findings on 18 July 2024 that the statutory body missed opportunities to help exonerate a man wrongly convicted of rape years before the conviction was overturned. Mahmood, who was sworn into office on 15 July 2024 after Labour swept to power earlier this month, described the conclusions as sobering and stated it is her firm view that Pitcher is unfit to fulfil her duties as chair of the CCRC. She said she has therefore initiated the process to seek Pitcher’s removal from that position. Pitcher, who also chairs the body responsible for identifying candidates for judicial office, was appointed to the CCRC in 2018......

The convention has stood at the vanguard of global action against bribery and remains indispensable, given corruption erodes fair markets, hampers economic growth, weakens democratic institutions and damages the rule of law. Over the past twenty-five years, it has raised public consciousness and spurred statutory reforms across numerous countries, reshaped business behaviour and energised civil society. Yet it has also confronted enduring obstacles, including patchy enforcement and political headwinds. This piece reviews the convention’s achievements and difficulties, and underscores its role in expanding transparency and accountability around the world. Background The convention is a binding international accord among signatories that commit to outlaw the bribery of foreign public officials and to undergo rigorous peer evaluation of progress in putting the convention into effect. Parties must hold companies and individuals to account through effective and proportionate penalties, and extend mutual legal assistance to overseas...

In this issue: King’s Speech 2024 Criminal procedure and evidence Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Food safety and hygiene offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Corporate Crime in Scotland Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information King’s Speech 2024 King’s Speech 2024—criminal justice and law enforcement His Majesty the King outlined the government’s priorities and intended policies for the forthcoming parliamentary session at the State Opening of Parliament on 17 July 2024. As in November 2023, public safety was central to the address, and the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, pledged to clamp down on anti‑social behaviour, reclaim our streets and...

Richard Hermer KC, the government’s most senior law officer, has no current intention to initiate committal proceedings against Gerrard, following the High Court’s 2023 request that the lawyer general consider prosecuting the law firm’s former head of white-collar crime, his office said on 17 July 2024. A spokesperson for the lawyer general’s office added that law officers take decisions in the public interest independently of government, including whether to consent to prosecutions or to pursue contempt proceedings......

Jeff Lane, 73, was found guilty at Swansea Magistrates’ Court in April 2022 of two offences linked to the unlicensed felling of around 2,000 trees across more than eight hectares (20 acres) of native and wet woodland within the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Swansea — a priority habitat owing to its ecological importance. The felling occurred between April 2019 and September 2020. Mr Lane’s appeal was unsuccessful, and he was again convicted at Swansea Crown Court in November 2022. The offences Mr Lane was convicted of were: Offence under section 17(1) of the Forestry Act 1967 ( FA 1967) for felling a tree without the authority of a felling licence from Natural Resources Wales ( NRW), the relevant forestry authority in Wales. A felling licence was required under FA 1967, s 9(1), as none of the limited exceptions in ss 9(2), 9(3) or 9(4)...

The parliamentary vote earlier this month saw parties fix on headline voter worries: the economy, the cost-of-living crisis and healthcare. With a commanding lead in the polls, Labour avoided spooking the horses or appearing anti-business by holding back from heavy new corporate rules, preferring caution over setting out onerous regulations for companies. Now, however, in office with a sizeable majority, it may move to tighten the screws decisively on money launderers and other financial offenders—potentially as soon as 10 July 2024, when its priority legislative programme is set out in the King's Speech ceremony. Legislation As an opening step, ministers could revive the Criminal Justice Bill, which fell in the pre-election rush to push through outstanding laws. Although it made headlines for controversial plans aimed at issues such as rough sleeping, the bill also contained reforms designed to help prosecutors more readily seize illicit,...

Judge Gregory Perrins ruled at Southwark Crown Court that the SFO is not required to repay Gianni Rivera, a former Greenergy fuel trader, for the costs of fighting fraud and money‑laundering allegations. Rivera, cleared in June 2024, contended the SFO ought to cover his legal expenses after his first trial date in September 2022 was adjourned and the case ultimately proceeded in May this year. According to his lawyer, he had sought as much as £1.6m. He argued the postponement left him out of pocket for a prolonged period......