Civil Fraud, Asset Recovery & Injunctive Relief

4 New Square is recognised as a leading set for Civil Fraud in the legal directories.  Our members are frequently instructed in commercial fraud work both on and offshore. That work arises in many different contexts and includes civil fraud in all its forms: from international conspiracy cases, to cases involving bribery or corruption, to fraudulent insurance claims, to claims involving trusts and fiduciaries. Our work includes asset recovery and enforcement.

Given this expertise, our barristers are regularly instructed at short notice to seek, resist or discharge urgent injunctive and other pre-emptive relief, including freezing injunctions, search orders, Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust orders, and we also have substantial experience of committal applications arising out of breaches of injunctive orders.

Chambers’ expertise ranges from cases in the Commercial Court and the Chancery Division in England and Wales, to courts in foreign jurisdictions, with a particular focus on work in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman, and the Isle of Man. Further, Members of Chambers have significant experience of international arbitration under a very broad range of domestic and international institutions, including where fraud is alleged. Consequently, we have significant experience of the jurisdictional disputes that often arise in these cases.

Featured Cases

• Suppipat & Ors v Narongdej & Ors – acting for the claimant in this high profile $2 billion+ unlawful means conspiracy, fraud and bribery claim with significant multi-jurisdictional aspects, brought by the founder of a Thai wind farm enterprise against a range of defendants including Nop Narongdej and Siam Commercial Bank (featured in The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2022).
• Vale v Steinmetz & Ors – acting for a number of parties in this high profile US$1.8bn claim brought in the Commercial Court by a Brazilian mining company, for misrepresentation and unlawful means conspiracy against a number of defendants.
• Vneshprombank v Bedzhamov & Others – acting for the main defendant in a fraud claim pleaded at £1.34bn and brought in the Chancery Division, relating to the collapse of a Russian bank, which has been the subject of numerous reported decisions.
• Kazakhstan Kagazy v Arip & Others – acting for the claimants in a long running US$300million Commercial Court fraud claim. The matter went through a thirteen week trial, various appeals, and was then the subject of a complex enforcement battle involving extremely valuable trust assets held in London, Switzerland, Cyprus, Dubai and elsewhere, resulting in a further four week trial.
• Serious Fraud Office, KPMG, Harbour Fund & Others v Litigation Capital Limited & 24 other parties – representing the Serious Fraud Office, KPMG, Harbour Litigation Funding, Stewarts Law and Quantuma in a 10-week trial in the Commercial Court concerning claims to assets worth over £100m.
• Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan & Others – acting for the main defendant in respect of alleged unlawful secret commissions obtained during his role as Director General of the Kuwait state entity. The multiple governing laws, the extent of the alleged wrongdoing and scale of the damages claimed (at least $900m) made this one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2021.
• Eurochem v Rogalskiy and others – Substantial civil fraud proceedings in the BVI which involve 18 defendants and also involve connected proceedings in a range of offshore jurisdictions. The case was the subject of a significant appeal to the Privy Council on jurisdictional issues.
• In the liquidation of the Stanford International Bank – acting for the liquidators of Stanford International Bank bringing a US$1bn claim in Antigua and Barbuda.
• Danilina v Chernukhin & Others  – a high-profile fraud claim relating to assets held in Russia (including a large textile manufacturer and development site in Moscow) and other jurisdictions.