Private prosecutions

Partner

Andrew is currently a director at Edmonds Marshall McMahon having led the prosecution of major fraud and regulatory matters for a range of government agencies. Andrew has been involved in the notoriously difficult prosecutions of many corporates such as Shell, Rolls Royce, Luton Airport and Schindler Lifts. Andrew is a committed and experienced advocate in various tribunals, whose practice principally relates to large-scale cases requiring a strategic overview and with immense factual and legal complexity. Other areas of work include wide-ranging advisory and review work on criminal and quasi-criminal matters (with a particular speciality in disclosure), appellate work and asset forfeiture and restraint. In addition to being a Grade 4 advocate (the highest rank) for Crown Prosecution Service, Andrew was appointed to the Attorney General’s list of prosecuting counsel in about 1990 and to the list of standing counsel in 2005 thus leading in the largest and most complex cases brought by the government prosecution bodies. In June 2012 he was appointed to the Regulatory List (A) of advocates and undertakes the largest and most complex investigations and cases for the Environment Agency (Crown Court, Mercantile Court, Admin Court and Court of Appeal, Planning Inspectorate) and HSE. In 2013 appointed to the SFO Counsel list and currently undertaking insider trading prosecutions for the FCA. In 2014 invited to speak to the United Nations, Vienna in respect of counterfeit pharmaceutical case successfully prosecuted in 2012.

Kate is a specialist, dual-qualified prosecutor. Prior to co-founding Edmonds Marshall McMahon, Kate prosecuted for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) where she worked as a senior lawyer on some of the UK’s largest criminal prosecutions, including the “Innospec” case. This was the first global settlement in the UK and involved systemic corruption by a UK/USA company in Iraq and Indonesia. The case resulted in a US$12.7 million fine in the UK and a US$14.1 million fine in the USA and successful prosecutions of the Company Directors and employees. Kate now specialises in cases involving serious fraud, serious and violent crime, international crime and perverting the course of justice. Kate is known for her incisive analysis and strategic vision, having had conduct of large fraud, corruption and trademark cases. She is highly regarded by her clients and has a reputation for being extremely determined and driven in all her cases. She has been described as an “outstanding prosecutor” who provides “intellectual leadership”. She is praised for her “high intelligence, tactical acumen and great client care skills.”

Gareth Minty is a Partner in the White Collar Crime & Investigations Group. He advises clients across the full range of litigation relating to white collar crime, including: private prosecutions, internal investigations, white collar criminal defence, restraint and confiscation of assets advice, and anti-bribery and corruption compliance advice. Since joining Mishcon de Reya, Gareth has drawn on his experience as a senior lawyer in the Central Fraud Division of the Crown Prosecution Service to successfully conduct the largest private prosecution brought to date involving a complex €100m fraud, which resulted in a sentence of 8 years’ imprisonment. Gareth’s private prosecution experience also extends to: prosecuting on behalf of Sky UK in relation to a fraud against the company’s intellectual property, an internal accounting fraud committed against a UK corporate, proceedings for international blackmail in a corporate context, and advising in respect of prosecuting for company director offences. Additionally, Gareth has taken the leading role in defending high profile SFO prosecutions for money laundering and corruption, as well as acting for clients who have been investigated by the City of London Police, the FCA, HMRC, the Metropolitan Police, and the US Department of Justice. Gareth is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is one of firm's trainers of prospective CFE's. He is also a member of the Private Prosecutors' Association, the Fraud Lawyer's Association and the International Bar Association.

Ian Ryan is a Partner and Head of the Business Crime and Regulatory team. He is a white-collar crime lawyer specialising in serious fraud and acting in serious and high-profile matters both domestically and internationally. Ian heads the firm's well regarded Business Crime team. Ian has over 25 years' experience dealing with a full range of business crime and serious fraud investigations. This includes investigations by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Competition Markets Authority (CMA), the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He advises on investigations from the early stages through to and including contested jury trials. His primary focus is acting for clients in SFO investigations. He is representing senior individuals in SFO investigations into Euribor, Patisserie Valerie, Amec Foster Wheeler, and ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation). Ian successfully represented Achim Kraemer, the only defendant acquitted in the first Euribor trial in June 2018. He has previously acted on the SFO investigations into Rolls Royce, GSK, Tesco, Harlequin and represented Vincent Tchenguiz on his arrest by the SFO and subsequent search of his business premises. Ian also acts for corporates on production orders, dawn raids, confiscation proceedings, warrants and the extent of legal professional privilege. He has represented both multi-nationals and individuals in numerous internal investigations. Ian has specialist experience in solicitors' disciplinary work and SRA investigations and is skilled at representing General Counsel caught up in SFO investigations. Ian has a niche specialism in money laundering and was previously a member of the Law Society's Money Laundering Taskforce. He is a member of the Law Society's AML directory providing advice to solicitors. Ian continues to represent high-net-worth individuals (celebrities, politicians and sports people) in general criminal matters.

Her recent work has focused on: fraud investigations, asset tracing and recovery on behalf of investment funds and other defrauded entities conducting investigations into misconduct affecting corporations, including suspected fraud, corruption, theft of commercial data, false accounting, tampering with safety equipment, and unlawful surveillance acting for corporates and individuals facing asset freezing and forfeiture orders advising on industry-wide campaigns of private prosecutions and acting as a leading advocate for the proper and lawful conduct of private investigations. Polly also advises a growing number of corporate clients grappling with allegations of sexual offences in the workplace. Her advisory work extends beyond legal remedies into managing reputational issues and crisis planning, preparedness and response. Polly was junior counsel in the high profile prosecution of News of the World journalists in 2014, and served as technical advisor to a Parliamentary inquiry into private investigators and phone hacking in 2012. Polly previously served as Head of Strategic Intelligence at the UK Serious Fraud Office and worked for several years as a corporate investigator and investigative journalist.

Nick has over 20 years of criminal law experience focussed on international, high-profile and sensitive matters. Before joining the firm, Nick was Head of Special Crime at the Crown Prosecution Service, overseeing the most complex casework in the CPS including corporate manslaughter, election fraud, police corruption, medical manslaughter and deaths in police custody. Prior to that, Nick held the three most senior international prosecution posts: Head of Extradition; Head of the UK Central Authority for Mutual Legal Assistance; and liaison prosecutor in Washington DC, where he worked closely with the Department of Justice on UK/US investigations. Nick now applies his unique insight and expertise on behalf of clients across the full range of business and general crime. He acts for individuals in high-profile extradition, INTERPOL Red Notice and mutual legal assistance cases, as well as fraud, money laundering, export controls and related offences. Nick also represents clients accused of sexual offences, especially in connection with their employment. Nick’s advice is routinely sought by individuals and corporations looking to bring or defend private prosecutions and, since January 2020, he has been representing the Post Office in the largest series of criminal appeals in UK legal history.

Kyle Phillips is a specialist financial crime and regulatory solicitor with particular expertise advising companies and individuals on fraud, bribery, corruption and money laundering matters. Kyle has over 10 years' experience representing clients in some of the most high-profile financial crime and regulatory investigations. This includes both domestic and international investigations. Notably, he has been instructed on several high-profile financial crime investigations including Wirecard, Euribor, G4S, Serco, Amec Foster Wheeler, Harlequin and Forex. Kyle conducts internal investigations on behalf of corporates who suspect criminal wrongdoing. He provides strategic advice to clients seeking to report criminal misconduct to the authorities, and is experienced at bringing private prosecutions. He provides expert assistance to clients to take preventative financial crime measures, including implementing compliance programmes and undertaking audits of financial crime controls. Kyle is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and together with his vast experience in financial crime investigation, he is particularly skilled at providing anti-money laundering advice and assistance. He is experienced at advising clients at all stages of a criminal investigation, and continues to advise clients subject to investigation for general crime matters including drugs, assault and sexual offences. Kyle also advises individuals subject to sports regulatory investigations, including e-sports. He sits as an Anti-Discrimination Disciplinary Chair for the Football Association. He is also a committee member for the Private Prosecutors' Association and is a former chair of the Young Fraud Lawyers Association.