http://albertprey.edublogs.org/2012/06/23/bark-co-fred-bunn-bark-co-solicitors-london/
Bridewell Court,
14 New Bridge Street,
London,
Greater London
United Kingdom
EC4V 6AG
Tel (020) 7353 1990
Fax (020) 7353 1880
DX 447 London Chancery Lane
Email : office@barkco.com
Website : www.barkco.com
Senior Partner: Giles Bark-Jones
Partners: 1
Assistants: 29
Other fee-earners: 19
THE FIRM Bark & Co is one of the UK’s leading fraud and business crime firms. The firm’s highly-skilled lawyers are committed to providing expert advice at every stage of proceedings. The firm’s principal aims are to avoid expensive litigation whenever possible and to fight tenaciously to protect its clients’ interests.
Established in 1996 by Giles Bark-Jones, Bark & Co has developed into one of the Country’s most progressive and successful fraud firms. A founder member of the Specialist Fraud Panel, the firm specialises in commercial and criminal fraud as well as serious crime, business and tax regulation, tax investigations and corporate obligations associated with health and safety enforcement. The firm acts for private individuals as well as national and international companies. It has also established itself as a leader in the field of cash and asset recovery in both criminal and civil courts.
Bark & Co prides itself on the individual expertise of its lawyers, the collective strength of its specialist teams and their skill in tailoring advice to match each client’s individual circumstances. Bark & Co’s rigorous commitment to quality of advice and personalised service has lead to significant work through referrals by both clients and other leading law firms.
PRINCIPAL AREAS OF WORK Bark & Co handles a wide range of high-profile white-collar crime and fraud cases, including prosecutions and investigations brought by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), HM Revenue & Customs, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Special Compliance Office of the Inland Revenue, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Trading Standards and other prosecuting bodies.
Corporate & Commercial Fraud: Bark & Co became a member of the Serious Fraud Panel at its inception and is a member of the Very High Costs Cases panel (VHCC) qualified to deal with the most complex of criminal matters.Acknowledged as one of the leaders in the field of corporate and commercial fraud, the firm has defended against many of the major prosecutions brought by the SFO and other government agencies. It has acknowledged experts in VAT and duties tribunal work, tax regulation, defence of duty evasion, moneylaundering and carousel fraud, as well as mortgage fraud, investment fraud, corruption, pension fund fraud, telecoms fraud, theft, fraudulent trading by company directors and Internet fraud. Dedicated teams also deal with confiscation and post- and pre-charge restraint proceedings.
Recent important cases include instructions in a high profile and politically sensitive FSA prosecution of directors (iSoft) in relation to the new NHS IT system and the defence of the Directors of a Carbon Trading company in an £85m fraud. Other cases include the defence of two Directors of a specialist division of Vantis PLC in a highly publicised case of alleged tax relief fraud. Bark & Co also represents a Managing Director of a prominent international bank involved in alleged insider trading; this is part of an unprecedented and high profile crackdown on fraud by the FSA and SOCA; Bark & Co are defending in another FSA prosecution of an alleged 11-handed insider dealing fraud involving two prominent investment banks and also defended in R v Law, Roberts & Harvey, another high profile SFO prosecution concerning fraudulent trading at a subsidiary of Alfred McAlpine PLC.
Criminal: Bark & Co continues to act in high-profile criminal trials, including cases of murder, money laundering, drugs importations, armed robbery and people-smuggling. The firm focuses on high-end work, often involving crime across international boundaries and jurisdictions.
The firm’s wide ranging portfolio of cases includes the ongoing high-profile case of a private investigator murdered over 22 years ago in a London pub car park. A total of five separate investigations have been launched, involving tens of thousands of hours of police work and utilising long-term intrusive undercover surveillance.
Bark & Co also advise private individuals and national and international companies facing investigation or criminal proceedings as a result of beaches of the Health and Safety Act, taking cases from pre-charge interviews through to trial.
For more information, please see our website.
Areas of Practice
White-Collar Crime/Fraud: 85%
General Crime: 15%
Bark & Co Solicitors London
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Cases – Bark & Co Solicitors – Specialist Fraud Firm
http://jakefury.edublogs.org/2012/06/26/cases-bark-co-solicitors-specialist-fraud-firm/
These are our some of our cases of note:
R v Nadir
Description: Bark & Co have been instructed by the former CEO of Polly Peck International (PPI) in an alleged multi-million pound fraud. The client faced 66 counts of Fraud & Theft, but failed to appear in the 1993 trial. Mr Nadir has returned to the UK to fight to clear his name.
The trial date is now set for January 2012.
Significance: One of the first high profile SFO prosecutions.
R v Ravjani & Others
Bark & Co represented a client accused significant involvement in a complex contra-trading MTIC fraud. The alleged fraud was of a scale that prompted the Government to proffer the case as an explanation as to why the UK balance of payments were adrift for a particular year. Unfortunately, reporting restrictions prevent us from publishing the full outcome at this time.
R v X
Description: This matter involves an insider trading investigation at a number of banks and hedge funds and other large financial institutions conducted by the FSA and SOCA which Reuters reports has “sent shockwaves through the country’s financial industry”.
Significance: This case involves significant press interest and involves the representation of a director at a very high profile financial institution.
R v CC & PF
Description: This case involves the arrest of nine directors of an ethical investment company investing in the energy sector. The value of the alleged fraud, which related to the company’s tax structure, is in excess of £85 million. It raises questions on the differences between tax evasion and tax avoidance. The company obtained tax benefits for research and development in the energy sector and secured investment from 750 specialist private investors.
Significance: This case will have far reaching consequences for the whole of the ethical carbon offsetting industry, as well as for all companies with similar tax structures. The company in question was advised by tax specialists and lawyers regarding the legislation involved. HMRC allege that the complex nature of the related companies and tax structures were formed for the specific reason of perpetrating a fraud while the company states that they were not only legitimate but standard industry practice.
R v F & P (Vantis Tax)
Description: We acted for former senior executives for a specialist tax division of Vantis Plc defending allegations of cheating the public revenue. They both vigorously deny the allegations made against them.
Significance: This case involves extremely complex tax, share valuation and trust issues, and raises serious questions concerning the boundaries of tax avoidance schemes and their use. It attracted significant media interest with coverage in the nationals and trade press.
R v S & Others
Description: Bark & Co is representing a client who is involved in a wide ranging FSA investigation into an alleged 11-handed insider dealing fraud. This matter revolves around a spread-betting company that was used to place derivative trades on share price movements. Trades were made close to, or before, significant and unexpected company announcements which influenced the share price in the direction of the placed trade. It is alleged that a ring of traders, some of whom had no previous experience in spread betting, were organised to perpetrate the fraud with the insider information originating from two well-known investment banks.
Significance: The value of the alleged fraud is over £3 million and involved insider information on more than 25 companies that the investment banks dealt with. This case is still at the investigation stage but charges are being brought.
R v W, W, W & D (Southwark Crown Court)
Description: Our client is charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences. This case follows a joint FSA and City of London Police operation and investigation into a boiler room fraud. It is alleged that several companies that were seeking venture capital were used as vehicles to generate appropriate share capital to sell to victims based in the UK. The boiler rooms were based overseas and unregulated by the FSA. They generated over £30 million in income which was then filtered through a complex network of companies and holding accounts and into UK and offshore accounts.
Significance: The fraud is so large that the FSA has determined that it is limiting the case to six primary front companies. Not only is this case a good example of the scale and increasing prevalence of this type of fraud, it also demonstrates how international operations are being used to bypass the UK financial regulators and authorities.
These are our some of our cases of note:
R v Nadir
Description: Bark & Co have been instructed by the former CEO of Polly Peck International (PPI) in an alleged multi-million pound fraud. The client faced 66 counts of Fraud & Theft, but failed to appear in the 1993 trial. Mr Nadir has returned to the UK to fight to clear his name.
The trial date is now set for January 2012.
Significance: One of the first high profile SFO prosecutions.
R v Ravjani & Others
Bark & Co represented a client accused significant involvement in a complex contra-trading MTIC fraud. The alleged fraud was of a scale that prompted the Government to proffer the case as an explanation as to why the UK balance of payments were adrift for a particular year. Unfortunately, reporting restrictions prevent us from publishing the full outcome at this time.
R v X
Description: This matter involves an insider trading investigation at a number of banks and hedge funds and other large financial institutions conducted by the FSA and SOCA which Reuters reports has “sent shockwaves through the country’s financial industry”.
Significance: This case involves significant press interest and involves the representation of a director at a very high profile financial institution.
R v CC & PF
Description: This case involves the arrest of nine directors of an ethical investment company investing in the energy sector. The value of the alleged fraud, which related to the company’s tax structure, is in excess of £85 million. It raises questions on the differences between tax evasion and tax avoidance. The company obtained tax benefits for research and development in the energy sector and secured investment from 750 specialist private investors.
Significance: This case will have far reaching consequences for the whole of the ethical carbon offsetting industry, as well as for all companies with similar tax structures. The company in question was advised by tax specialists and lawyers regarding the legislation involved. HMRC allege that the complex nature of the related companies and tax structures were formed for the specific reason of perpetrating a fraud while the company states that they were not only legitimate but standard industry practice.
R v F & P (Vantis Tax)
Description: We acted for former senior executives for a specialist tax division of Vantis Plc defending allegations of cheating the public revenue. They both vigorously deny the allegations made against them.
Significance: This case involves extremely complex tax, share valuation and trust issues, and raises serious questions concerning the boundaries of tax avoidance schemes and their use. It attracted significant media interest with coverage in the nationals and trade press.
R v S & Others
Description: Bark & Co is representing a client who is involved in a wide ranging FSA investigation into an alleged 11-handed insider dealing fraud. This matter revolves around a spread-betting company that was used to place derivative trades on share price movements. Trades were made close to, or before, significant and unexpected company announcements which influenced the share price in the direction of the placed trade. It is alleged that a ring of traders, some of whom had no previous experience in spread betting, were organised to perpetrate the fraud with the insider information originating from two well-known investment banks.
Significance: The value of the alleged fraud is over £3 million and involved insider information on more than 25 companies that the investment banks dealt with. This case is still at the investigation stage but charges are being brought.
R v W, W, W & D (Southwark Crown Court)
Description: Our client is charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences. This case follows a joint FSA and City of London Police operation and investigation into a boiler room fraud. It is alleged that several companies that were seeking venture capital were used as vehicles to generate appropriate share capital to sell to victims based in the UK. The boiler rooms were based overseas and unregulated by the FSA. They generated over £30 million in income which was then filtered through a complex network of companies and holding accounts and into UK and offshore accounts.
Significance: The fraud is so large that the FSA has determined that it is limiting the case to six primary front companies. Not only is this case a good example of the scale and increasing prevalence of this type of fraud, it also demonstrates how international operations are being used to bypass the UK financial regulators and authorities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)