Ex-Dechert solicitor leaked ENRC’s confidential documents to media, London judge rules May 16, 2022 A London judge has said a senior partner at corporate law firm Dechert LLP breached his duties to Kazakhstani mining conglomerate ENRC by leaking information about the company to three British newspapers and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). High Court judge Mr Justice Waksman said Neil Gerrard, the former head of white-collar crime at [...]
Roman Abramovich used ‘barrage’ of legal threats to silence journalist, MPs hear March 17, 2022 A prominent British journalist has said she received legal threats from Roman Abramovich after she published a book laying out the oligarch’s links to Vladimir Putin. Reuters journalist Catherine Belton told MPs she received a “barrage” of legal threats from Russian oligarchs, including sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich and Everton backer Alisher Usmanov, after she published [...]
Kazakhstani mining company’s libel lawsuit against British author dismissed by High Court judge March 2, 2022 A libel lawsuit, put forward by a Kazakhstani mining company against Financial Times journalist Tom Burgis over his new book, has been thrown out of court. A High Court judge dismissed a case brought forward by Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), after the firm sued Burgis for libel, over comments made in the first two [...]
‘Memory affected by long Covid’: Top City lawyer denies lying under oath July 9, 2021 City lawyer Neil Gerrard rejected the notion he lied under oath during a multimillion-pound High Court trial after text messages emerged suggesting he knew one of his client’s senior employees was secretly giving evidence to investigators. Gerrard and his firm Dechert represented Kazakh mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) between 2011 and 2013, investigating [...]
City lawyer Neil Gerrard of Dechert denies allegation he was ‘in rape mode’ June 30, 2021 A top City lawyer alleged to have told colleagues that he was going to “screw” his client for millions of pounds in fees has emphatically denied the claim, telling the High Court it was “utterly ridiculous”. Kazakh mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is suing its former lawyer Neil Gerrard for allegedly leaking confidential [...]
Claims against top City law firm Dechert ‘the stuff of conspiracy theories’ May 25, 2021 Allegations that a top City lawyer leaked confidential information about a Kazakh mining giant under investigation for alleged corruption are “the stuff of conspiracy theories”, the High Court has heard. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is suing its former lawyers and the Serious Fraud Office over an SFO investigation into claims of bribery, corruption and [...]
Serious Fraud Office encouraged ‘Machiavellian’ top City lawyer to leak client’s file, court told May 24, 2021 The Serious Fraud Office encouraged a “Machiavellian” top City lawyer to leak confidential information about his client while it was under investigation for alleged bribery, corruption and fraud, the High Court heard today. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is suing the SFO for alleged misfeasance in public office over an investigation into the Kazakh mining [...]
ENRC opens £70m claim against SFO and top law firm Dechert May 24, 2021 A multi million pound claim against a top City law firm and the Serious Fraud Office for an alleged breach of contract will be heard at the High Court today. Mining firm Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is suing law firm Dechert and one of its former partners Neil Gerrard for an alleged breach of [...]
Oligarch’s daughter found guilty of failing to hand over documents in corruption case January 30, 2020 Anna Machkevitch, the daughter of a billionaire oligarch, was today found guilty of failing to hand over documents to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in connection with a massive corruption investigation. She was found guilty of failing to supply documents required by the SFO under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act. She was ordered [...]
SFO cuts spending on lawyers as conviction rate falls July 28, 2019 The serious fraud office’s (SFO) spending on staff and external counsel fell last year, while its conviction rate crumbled to just over 53 per cent. The figures, released in the SFO’s annual report, show spending on staff fell 2.4 per cent to £30.6m last year, with spending on external counsel dropping 5.7 per cent to [...]