White Collar, Crime & Investigations
Thirty-Three is specialist set of chambers with substantial experience in matters relating to commercial wrongdoing, fraud, proceeds of crime, asset recovery and forfeiture, regulatory and compliance, and serious crime.
We act for Government entities and agencies, corporates and individuals including HNW and UHNW within the following areas:
POCA and Asset Recovery
Financial Crime (Individuals and Corporates)
Sanctions (Sanctions and Restrictive Measures, transactions, list removals, licensing and enforcement actions)
Investigations
Private Prosecutions.
Fraud
Bribery & Corruption
Serious Crime
Money Laundering
AML, Risk Management and Compliance (Advisory for both domestic and multinational companies and financial institutions under the PoCA 2002, Bribery Act and Restrictive Measures regimes)
Regulatory
Tax Disputes (Fraud, Investigations, Tribunal Proceedings, Judicial Review, Advisory)
POCA & Asset Recovery.
Thirty-Three are the leaders in the field of asset recovery.
Members of chambers assisted in drafting the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and continue to advise and train judges, prosecutors and investigators worldwide in relation to their POCA regimes.
We are responsible for the leading textbook Mitchell, Taylor & Talbot on Confiscation and the Proceeds of Crime, and Ranked The Number 1 Set for POCA and Asset Recovery in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.
“33 Chancery Lane has a great pool of talent in this area. No other set can provide the breadth and depth of Counsel that have such expertise in POCA and asset forfeiture.”
“The leading set for POCA related litigation work.”
Members have appeared in the most ground-breaking cases in the area of restraint and confiscation for more than thirty-three years dealing with many complicated issues including:
Applicability of Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and regulations, in particular the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
Unexplained Wealth Orders.
Account Freezing Orders.
Applicability of sanctions legislation.
Due diligence required by the Money Laundering Regulations.
Obligations to report any suspicion of money laundering and breach of sanctions.
Legal professional privilege and POCA privilege.
Overlap between POCA, commercial litigation and civil liability issues.
POCA court orders, e.g. production.
Obtaining consent from the National Crime Agency to carry out transactions.
Civil Recovery under POCA.
Confiscation under POCA.
Interaction between confiscation and LPA receiverships, insolvency and family proceedings
The team acts on behalf of individuals, companies, receivers, financial institutions, third parties, foreign requesting states and specialist prosecuting authorities including SFO, FCA and CPS. We are the leading set in the recovery of assets in criminal proceedings and parallel civil litigation and private prosecution proceedings.
Members often advise and assist foreign governments, sovereign wealth funds and international public bodies including US and Caribbean, Asia Pacific, Africa and European nations including dealing with requests to register and enforce foreign forfeiture orders.
Representative cases:
Andrewes (SC) - Confiscation benefit from legitimate employment
Luckhurst (SC) - Release of living and legal expenses
Crown Prosecution Service v Aquila Advisory Ltd (SC) - Company property rights further to confiscation orders made against its directors.
Ahmad & Fields (SC) - Apportionment and enforcement of multi-handed cases.
R v GH (SC) - Money laundering offences
Barnes v Eastenders (SC) - Management receiverships.
Gale and Ors. v SOCA (SC) - Civil recovery under PoCA and the utility of foreign convictions.
King v SFO (SC) Enforcement of foreign Restraint Orders.
Glatt v Sinclair (CA Civ.) Leading case on Receivers' costs.
R v May, Jennings and Green (House of Lords) - probably the most important series of PoCA 2002 cases.
Foreign Government Asset Recovery Claims - Advice to nations on civil and criminal restraint and enforcement of stolen sovereign wealth.
Account Freezing Orders (AFO), Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO), Moratorium Period Extensions - Frequently instructed to represent those affected by these new powers.
Financial Crime and Investigations including Bribery & Corruption.
We regularly act on behalf of corporate clients and individuals, and government entities in matters of corruption including disgorgement, injunctive relief and damages, as well as criminal investigations and/or trials for corruption, bribery or failing to prevent.
Members advise and act for companies and individuals on UK Bribery Act Liabilities and FCPA exposure, as well as seeking civil recovery settlements in lieu of criminal proceedings. In addition, we conduct review of search, seizure, production, urgent injunctions as well as advising financial institutions and others on making protected and authorised disclosures to regulatory bodies.
The team has represented various individuals, directors and corporates in relation to applications for account freezing & forfeiture orders, as well as those charged with corruption concerning substantial contracts, across multiple jurisdictions and industries within financial, property and real estate, construction and engineering, energy and natural resources, manufacturing and supply, transport and healthcare sectors.
As part of our offering, members often conduct and review stress testing of internal controls, corporate policy and adequate measures. We also advise and represent firms on their approaches to UK regulators including anonymised scoping, and corporates in relation to regulatory action brought by the FCA for any breach of FSMA and in relation to criminal liability.
The team often advise on internal investigations, and we have also been involved in some of the largest HMRC, FCA and SFO investigations and trials to date. We acted in the first LIBOR and EURIBOR trials, as well as the following investigations GPT Special Project Management Limited, Glencore, Unaoil, Petrofac, ENRC, Chemring Group Plc, Tesco, Glaxo, JJB, Alstom, Capita Oak Pension, Ethical Forestry Limited, London Capital & Finance, Rolls-Royce, Quindell, Tesco, Barclays, Operation Naples, Ashland, Chandler, Tidworth, Gillingham, Kempston, Tabernula, Alfreton, and Pontefract.
Members are also currently acting as independent counsel in major SFO and Metropolitan Police Operations.
Many of our cases have an international element including Turks and Caicos Islands (Missick and Others) where we were instructed on an investigation, prosecution and defence of individuals on charges of bribery and corruption following a Commission of Inquiry. We also acted in the most ground-breaking case of, Innospec in which the criminal matters to corruption in Indonesia were dealt with in the UK and US Courts, simultaneously.
Our members have also conducted cases throughout the US and Caribbean Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and offshore jurisdictions
Regulatory
We act in regulatory matters on behalf of financial institutions and in criminal regulatory and enforcement proceedings for individual and corporate defendants. Members are also often appointed in disciplinary Tribunals as panel members, chair or on behalf of respondent parties in respective proceedings.
More widely, members are appointed by sports bodies including Professional Cricketers' Association and the League Managers' Association. Chambers have also represented PLC’s and other corporates in defending allegations of mis selling practices.
Our Regulatory matters often have an international element, having acted in a Prosecution of a Hong Kong CIOT Fellow, upon allegations of multi-million HK$/AUD$/€ misappropriation from a series of clients in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
Members also work with the Bar Council in designing and delivering training for the Bar in respect of money laundering issues relating to direct access instructions.
Criminal Fraud
Members have substantial experience of complex criminal fraud matters ranging from Insider trading, Conspiracy to defraud, Tax, and investment vehicles.
Representative cases:
SFO v B, G and Ors. - Restraint litigation and judicial review following to collapse of a mini-bond investment vehicle.
R v N – Acting in trial proceedings relating to the multi-million pound defrauding of the Royal Mail.
R v B – Conspiracy to money launder, a high value international conspiracy to launder the proceeds of an organised crime group.
Operation Amazon - The most complex tax case HMRC have ever prosecuted. For the first defendant.
R v B – Acting in a large scale international fraud and money laundering operation involving the obtaining and processing through numerous offshore corporations, the proceeds arising from multi million pound boiler room frauds.
R v MH - Successful appeal (Court of Appeal) relating to an insider fraud at a leading investment bank.
Operation Vaulter - Conspiracy to defraud involving ‘contra-trading’ and offshore operations in the United Arab Emirates.
R v S,T &T - Fraudulent manufacture of substance detection devices sold to private and state security forces worldwide.
R (On Application of AFC, AA) v C Magistrates’ Court ex parte Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - Judicial Review of HM Revenue and Customs’ investigatory conduct relating to film scheme tax relief and input tax recovery.
BVI AG v X - Criminal Investigation following the BVI Commission of Inquiry into government spending during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
R v SH & Ors - Defending a company director in a series of 3 high value fraud trials involving allegations of investment fraud, fraudulent trading and defrauding Natwest bank.
R v MB & Ors - Private prosecution alleging Fraudulent Trading and Theft.
R v GS - Money laundering of funds from a £3m nationwide banking fraud.
R v MS & Ors - 13 handed MTIC fraud alleged to have caused a loss to HMRC in excess of £20m.
R v AH & Ors - Investment fraud boiler room fraud.
R v MJ & Ors - 20 handed Conspiracy to Defraud the Civil Aviation Authority.
R v LC & Ors - 13 handed multi-million pound MTIC fraud.
Serious Crime.
Members are often instructed to defend in high profile and heavyweight serious crime cases, including murder, organised crime (including overseas drug cartels, firearms and armed robberies) terrorism and serious sexual offences.
Representative cases:
R v KK & Ors - Multi-handed Class A Drugs Conspiracies each operated using Encrochat devices.
R v MA & Ors - Complex firearms trial.
R v RK & Ors - Conspiracy to import a significant volume of cannabis.
R v SD & Ors - Conspiracy to Supply Heroin.
R v JN & Ors - Multi-handed conspiracy to commit aggravated burglaries at mobile phone shops.
R v JB (2018) - Murder trial involving the deliberate targeting of the victim by a gang.
R v AA - Represented a 16-year-old boy with ADHD accused of murdering his friend over an argument on snapchat.
R v EE & Ors - Three-handed murder trial involved a knife fight between four men which was captured on film and witnessed by numerous members of the public.