Successful Acquittal of Fraudulent Trading and Money Laundering Charges

Published: 12th August 2022

Simon Csoka QC and Michael Lavery (Exchange Chambers) secure acquittals on all counts for their client at Southwark Crown Court. He was the only defendant acquitted.

The trial, prosecuted by the SFO with two QCs, a junior and over 30 disclosure juniors, ran for five months at Southwark. The case concerned a Cayman Islands based investment fund which provided litigation funding for no-win no-fee cases in the UK. The fund collapsed in 2012 with losses of over ยฃ100 million to pension investors internationally. There was an extensive offshore group of companies in Cayman, Switzerland, Panama, the Marshall Islands and the Isle of Man.

Richard Emmett was the senior partner of a substantial firm of solicitors which received the largest share of the funding. He was charged with fraudulent trading and money laundering.

Mr Csoka QC was instructed by Mr Paul Schofield of Farleys solicitors. Simon and Michael would like to thank him and his team in the Financial Crime department for their thorough and proactive preparation of Mr Emmettโ€™s defence.
Links:

The Times

Financial Times

Daily Mail