St Philips Chambers

Ragveer specialises in criminal defence work and his practice includes fraud, drugs, murder, people trafficking and miscarriages of justice.

Ragveer is regularly instructed in high profile cases for serious crime. These have included one of the largest pharmaceutical fraud cases in recent times, lasting some eight months; one of the largest international drugs conspiracies involving twenty-one defendants; multiple murder cases, including the alleged murder of a baby girl which resulted in the acquittal of both parents.

Ragveer was instructed in one of the longest miscarriages of justice in British history in the case of R. v. Hodgson, where the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal after the defendant had spent twenty-seven years in custody. He was also involved in a number of old convictions on a pro-bono basis.

He came to the bar as a mature student having worked in various community groups in inner-city Birmingham.

Recent Cases:

• Iraqi oil for food Programme (Conspiracy to break United Nations sanctions) – This was a case which was reported internationally and was the first ever prosecution brought under the United Nations Act in the United Kingdom. It involved breaching UN sanctions in the sale of oil from Saddam Hussein which was not permitted under the Food for Oil Programme. It was a case that involved multiple jurisdictions and an analysis of government policy during this period. It also involved a careful analysis of the way in which the UN and USA governments were dealing with sanctions busting. It was a hugely complex and serious case with a voluminous paper trail.
• R v Hodgson – This was the longest miscarriage of justice in British History. After 29 years the Appellant’s conviction for murder was quashed. This case involved DNA evidence and the inadmissibility of the Appellant’s interviews. As a result, I was awarded the honour of being “The Times Lawyer of the Week”.
• R v W – This was one of the largest ever fraud prosecutions by the SFO. The papers served exceeded 1.1 million documents. It involved the selling of shares on various stock markets. The case involved experts in the field of share trading, forensic accountants and complex issues regarding the sale of shares. It was a multi-million pound fraud that lasted some several months.
• R v R – This was a murder case involving 9 Defendants. The Defendant I represented was first on the Indictment and after a trial lasting almost 5 months he was found not guilty despite making an alleged confession to an undercover police officer.
• R. v S – This was a fraud against Virgin Media and involved 5 Defendants. The fraud was the selling of a package that allowed access to Virgin products without purchasing those products with the seller, Virgin Media. It was a case where the issues were serious and complex. The case papers were substantial and the value of the fraud ran into millions.
• R. v O – This was the largest international money laundering and drugs case involving cartels in Columbia. The case had an international dimension and the case papers were substantial. The Case involved large sums of money exchanging between the UK and other International jurisdictions.
• R. v D – This was one of the largest frauds of Nike counterfeit goods that resulted in an ITN Documentary broadcasted in 2012. This involved an international organised crime group involved in the large scale wholesale and importation and distribution of sale of counterfeit goods that involved different international jurisdictions.
• R. v M – This was a multi-handed murder at the Central Criminal Court. The Defendants were young men and were accused of being involved in a murder in a gang related motivated case. It was one of the first cases that involved the use of an expert in Podiatry.
• R. v N – This was the largest pharmaceutical fraud involving professional pharmacists. It involved the sale and supply of counterfeit drugs across an international market. The value of the fraud ran into millions and the trial lasted in excess of 8 months. The fraud ranged across the North Americas and China and involved niche companies and their directors.