Serious fraud barristers.
Defence counsel for Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC and police economic crime investigations and prosecutions, from the first section 2 notice through to trial, appeal and confiscation.
A serious fraud case does not look like an ordinary criminal case. There is rarely a single incident, rarely an eye witness, and rarely a clean forensic result. Instead there are years of emails, ledgers, bank statements, board minutes and spreadsheets, and a prosecution narrative built by inference from all of it. Defending that requires a barrister who is comfortable in the detail, who can read an accounting reconstruction and see where the assumption was made, and who can hold a jury's attention for a trial that may last four months.
Clerk&Counsel places instructions with barristers who defend serious fraud for a living. They act in Serious Fraud Office prosecutions, Financial Conduct Authority enforcement and criminal proceedings, HMRC tax fraud investigations, National Crime Agency cases and CPS Specialist Fraud Division prosecutions. Every barrister on the panel is independent, regulated by the Bar Standards Board, and instructed on terms that are agreed in writing before work begins.
We also act for people who have not been charged with anything and hope never to be. Suspects, witnesses, company directors served with compelled production notices, and businesses conducting an internal investigation all need advice that is alive to the criminal risk. If you are in that position, the earlier the conversation happens the more options remain open.
Fraud and financial crime we defend.
The barristers we place cover the full range of serious economic crime work:
- Conspiracy to defraud, fraud by false representation, fraud by abuse of position and false accounting under the Fraud Act 2006.
- Serious Fraud Office investigations and prosecutions, including section 2 compelled interviews and deferred prosecution agreement contexts.
- Bribery and corruption under the Bribery Act 2010, including the corporate failure to prevent offence and adequate procedures arguments.
- Insider dealing, market abuse and unauthorised business under the Financial Services and Markets Act, prosecuted or enforced by the Financial Conduct Authority.
- Tax fraud, cheating the public revenue, MTIC and missing trader VAT fraud, and Code of Practice 9 contractual disclosure facility matters.
- Investment, boiler room, Ponzi and land banking fraud, and cryptocurrency investment fraud.
- Mortgage, insurance and procurement fraud, and fraud on public funding schemes including COVID support schemes.
- Money laundering under Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, including failure to disclose and tipping off offences.
- Confiscation proceedings, restraint orders, account freezing orders, unexplained wealth orders and civil recovery.
- Company director disqualification proceedings running alongside or in place of a prosecution.
Where serious fraud cases are actually won.
The first battleground is disclosure. In a case built on documents, the material that undermines the prosecution is almost always somewhere in the unused schedule. Defence counsel who works the schedules properly, makes targeted section 8 applications and forces the prosecution to justify what it has withheld will find the inconsistency that reframes the case. This is unglamorous work and it decides outcomes.
The second is expertise. A forensic accountant instructed early can test the prosecution's loss calculation, its tracing exercise and its assumptions about who controlled which account. Very often the headline figure in the indictment shrinks substantially once the methodology is examined, and a smaller figure changes both the sentencing exposure and the confiscation position.
The third is intention. Most serious fraud trials turn not on whether money moved but on whether the defendant was dishonest when it did. Commercial optimism, poor record keeping, reliance on professional advice and the ordinary chaos of a struggling business are not fraud. Presenting that distinction credibly to a jury, without appearing to excuse the failure, is the core skill of a fraud advocate and it is the reason experience in this specific field matters more than general criminal practice.
How instructing works.
Contact the clerks with a short outline: who is investigating, what stage the matter has reached, whether there are charges, the next date in the diary, and whether a solicitor is already involved. Nothing you tell us goes further. We will tell you within the same working day whether the case is one we can help with.
We then shortlist counsel by fit, not by rota. That means matching seniority to exposure, matching sector experience to the allegation, and confirming genuine availability across the likely trial window, which in a serious fraud case may be a listing eighteen months away that requires counsel to be free for several months. We confirm a fee before anything is committed.
Once you accept, a BSB compliant client care letter sets out scope, fee and timetable. From that point you deal with your barrister directly and the clerks stay in the background handling listings, papers, conferences and the administration, which is exactly where clerking belongs.
Specialist areas within this practice.
- Fraud Barristers
General fraud defence across the Magistrates and Crown Court.
- Proceeds of Crime Barristers
Confiscation, restraint, account freezing orders and civil recovery under POCA 2002.
- Money Laundering Barristers
Part 7 POCA offences, suspicious activity reporting and regulated sector exposure.
- HMRC Fraud Barristers
Tax fraud, cheating the revenue, MTIC fraud and Code of Practice 9 investigations.
- Criminal Defence Barristers
The full range of criminal defence work across England and Wales.
Brief a serious fraud barrister.
Send a short summary of the investigation or indictment, the investigating body, and the next date in the case. A clerk will respond with shortlisted counsel and a written fee, in confidence.
Common questions.
What counts as serious fraud?
In practice it means a case with high value, multiple defendants, a long indictment, or an investigating body such as the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC or a specialist police economic crime unit. These cases run to thousands of pages of disclosure, involve expert accounting evidence, and are usually listed for trials measured in months rather than days.
I have received a section 2 notice from the SFO. What should I do?
Take advice before you respond. A notice under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 compels the production of documents or attendance for interview, and failure to comply is itself an offence. What you can properly withhold on privilege grounds, how the answers can later be used, and whether you are a witness or a suspect are all questions to resolve with counsel before the deadline, not after.
How early should I instruct a barrister?
As early as possible. Fraud cases are frequently won or lost at the investigation stage, before charge. Written representations to the prosecuting authority, a properly prepared interview strategy, and an early forensic accounting review can result in no further action, in a narrower indictment, or in a resolution that avoids a trial entirely.
Can I instruct a fraud barrister directly without a solicitor?
For advice, written opinions, representations and some hearings, yes, under the public access scheme. For a full contested fraud trial with heavy disclosure and expert evidence, a solicitor is normally needed to manage the file and instruct experts, and counsel then works alongside them. The clerks will tell you plainly which route your case needs.
What is a confiscation order and will it apply to me?
After a conviction for an acquisitive offence the prosecution can apply under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for a confiscation order. The benefit figure is often far higher than anything the defendant actually retained, particularly where a criminal lifestyle assumption is applied. Confiscation is a separate and highly technical stage of the case and should be fought with the same seriousness as the trial.
How much does a serious fraud barrister cost?
Fees reflect the volume of material and the length of the case. Pre charge advice and a written opinion are usually a fixed fee. Trial work is quoted as a brief fee plus daily refreshers, agreed in writing before counsel accepts the instruction. Where legal aid is available in a Crown Court fraud case we will say so.
Do you place Kings Counsel for the largest cases?
Yes. Where the value, complexity or reputational exposure justifies it we place a silk, usually leading a junior who carries the disclosure and the schedules. For many cases a strong senior junior is the better value option, and we will give you an honest view rather than upselling.