Bark&co

Bark&co has one of the UK’s leading fraud and business crime practices, with specialist expertise in heavyweight prosecutions and investigations brought by the SFO, the FCA, HMRC and other national and international prosecuting bodies. It is committed to fighting tenaciously to protect its clients’ interests, and has represented clients in relation to many of the largest and most important frauds of recent years.

The firm: Bark&co is one of the UK’s most progressive and successful fraud and business crime firms. An original member of the Specialist Fraud Panel, it handles civil and criminal fraud, business and tax regulation, tax investigations, white-collar crime, bribery and corruption, and serious crime cases for high-net-worth individuals, as well as national and international companies. The firm has a flexible approach, tailoring its advice to meet each client’s individual needs. Its rigorous commitment to quality and discretion is widely recognised and generates significant referrals from satisfied clients. The firm also appreciates the importance of working with specialists to create robust PR and media management plans.

Principal areas
Fraud: white-collar crime: Bark&co handles a wide range of white-collar crime and fraud cases, including prosecutions and investigations brought by the SFO, the FCA, HMRC, the Special Compliance Office of the Inland Revenue, the CPS, the NCA, SOCA and other prosecuting bodies. Specialists in heavyweight criminal fraud work of all kinds, Bark&co’s advice is increasingly also sought in major civil fraud cases. Acknowledged as a leader in the field, the firm has helped clients in connection with many of the highest-profile prosecutions brought by the SFO and other agencies. Its recent record includes representing some 55 clients at Southwark Crown Court (over the past year, or awaiting trial) as well as acting in a succession of large-scale FCA investigations and prosecutions. Expertise includes money laundering and carousel fraud, mortgage fraud, investment fraud, corruption, pension fund fraud, telecoms fraud, theft, fraudulent trading by company directors and internet fraud. Dedicated teams also assist in relation to confiscation and post- and pre-charge restraint proceedings.

The firm has acted for individuals in many of the largest and most important frauds of recent years, such as the Cheney Pension fraud (the largest theft from a pension fund since Maxwell); the high-profile Asil Nadir case (an SFO prosecution involving allegations of theft from Polly Peck International – including acting for Ersin Tatar (then Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus) in connection thereto); the US$1bn BAE Systems corruption claims; and the Adoboli case (the former trader at UBS charged in relation to US$2.3bn trading losses); and acted for an individual in relation to the SFO’s bribery and corruption investigation into Amec Foster Wheeler (the SFO confirming that it will not proceed with the case after entering a DFA with the company). The firm also acted for a defendant in the SFO prosecution following the Libor scandal; represented key individuals in the high-profile SFO investigations into alleged corruption at Rolls-Royce; and acted in R v F & Others: described by prosecution counsel as the ‘biggest case ever’ involving allegations of carbon trading fraud. More recently it acted for three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker in relation to criminal charges brought by the Insolvency Service following his bankruptcy. The firm also won, in 2022, a landmark victory in the Supreme Court for a high-net-worth client, concerning the extent to which suspects of crime are entitled to privacy – a highly significant decision with profound implications for media reporting as well as for individuals subject to criminal investigation.

The firm’s civil fraud, VAT and indirect tax practice has grown rapidly in recent years. Much of its work in this area is highly confidential, but recent highlights include representing Dominic Chappell in relation to his prosecution for various counts of tax fraud arising from his takeover of BHS from Sir Philip Green; assisting a client in relation to National Crime Agency and SKAT (Danish tax authority) investigations into a £1.5bn fraud against the tax authorities in a number of countries; acting in a substantial MTIC fraud case, in which an Organised Crime Group was alleged to be accountable for significant losses to the UK Exchequer through associated large-scale VAT and Excise duty frauds; and acting for one of a number of individuals charged in relation to an alleged alcohol diversion fraud operated on a massive scale in 2009 and 2010. The firm’s track record also includes acting in relation to an £800m international tax fraud, and assisting a client in a £108m case arising out of Operation Amazon, described by KPMG and The Daily Telegraph as ‘one of the biggest direct tax frauds in UK history’.

Crime: general: The firm also continues to act in large, high-profile criminal cases, following arrests for murder, money laundering, drugs importation, sexual offences and people smuggling. The firm focuses on high-end work, much of it with an international dimension. Bark&co is also active in the fast-growing area of cyber crime, and advises individuals and companies facing investigations or criminal proceedings as a result of health and safety and environmental breaches. The specialist team carefully guides clients through all stages of criminal proceedings from pre-charge interviews through to trial and, where appropriate, appeal.

Bark&co has an impressive track record of representing clients in complex criminal matters. These have included the News of the World ‘phone hacking’ prosecution and subsequent computer hacking investigations; the Melanie Hall historical murder case; the case of cricket match fixing / conspiracy to pervert the course of justice involving former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns; the Clerkenwell ’crime syndicate’ case; the Operation Yewtree sexual offences investigation; the landmark Agnes Taylor case, involving torture offences dating back to the Liberian civil war and the largest criminal case of its time; and the UK’s largest ever burglary case (carried out by an international criminal gang against a series of celebrities in December 2019). It was recently successful in securing seven murder acquittals, including the acquittal of a client on one of two conspiracies to murder following a ten-week trial at the Central Criminal Court. It also successfully acted in a high-value theft case concerning an alleged conspiracy involving the acquisition of stolen car parts for international exportation on an industrial scale; secured an acquittal in a multi-defendant ‘county lines’ drugs and modern slavery case; and acted for a high-profile individual under investigation for alleged historic sexual offences – as well as assisting clients in international drugs supply, cyber crime, firearms and terrorism matters. While the firm is well known for its discretion, Bark&co’s services are also sought after in cutting-edge matters in the public eye.

International: The firm’s work frequently extends overseas with specialist teams deployed for cases with a multi-jurisdictional element. Its international credentials are demonstrated by its involvement in R v Marrache & Co (the Gibraltar/international law firm fraud case).