| Leading business defence specialists Cartwright King are ending the year on a high with a hat trick of major fraud trial victories.
Their first success came in July with an acquittal at Sheffield Crown Court This was an advance fee offshore investment fraud and money laundering case involving multi-million pound projects in Spain, with UK brokers and US funding. Cartwright King represented the middleman responsible for due diligence who was acquitted as he had no idea that the front-man was a fraudster or that the US funders were not genuine.
This case was followed by two more at Birmingham and Leicester Crown Courts in November. In Birmingham Cartwright King represented a client who was cleared of being involved in a conspiracy to defraud, including the setting up of trade credit accounts, obtaining goods & then disappearing. It involved £1.2 million worth of drinks & snacks. Cartwright King’s client purchased these goods believing them to be legitimate.
The final case at Leicester Crown Court involved an adult education grant fraud which totalled over £1 million by family-run learner provider organisation. Cartwright King’s client was again found not guilty.
The trials lasted over six months, and involved allegations of many millions of pounds, both in the UK and abroad.
“The major fraud cases that we deal with can take over 4 years from arrest to trial, due to their complexity and the great length that investigators will go to in order to get evidence to prove them,” said Mark Wilson, head of business defence at Cartwright King. “There is huge pressure on the authorities to only prosecute those cases they are sure they will win. Most cases either never get to court or if they do have to be settled. To win three successive trials is a terrific result, and it reflects well on our highly rated team”.
The firm, which has offices in [Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Sheffield] is one of the largest for this type of work in the region and has 25 specialist business defence lawyers. It is a member of the VHCC panel for fraud, accredited by the Legal Services Commission, to undertake the largest, most complex cases, and is recognised as top in the region by the independent legal guides, Legal 500 and Chambers Directory.
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