News

With the current downturn in the British economy and short-term economic recession forecast for the next few years, there has been a sudden increase in financial and fraud related crime being investigated by the authorities. This spectrum of fraud and economic crime including tax evasion covers individuals and corporate entities including sole traders and companies. The categories of offences where a significant increase in detection and investigation by police, the SFO (Serious Fraud Office) private fraud investigators, DWP, Trading Standards and HMRC could be summarised as follows:

Offences under the Fraud Act 2006

Counterfeit goods and Trademark Infringement

MTIC (Missing Trader Intra-Community) Fraud/Carousel Fraud

Credit Card and cheque fraud

Possession of False Instruments to commit fraud

Social Security Benefit Fraud

Tax Evasion and Tax Investigations (The Dawn Raids by HMRC)

Factoring Fraud

Insurance Fraud

Employee Fraud/Embezzlement/Breach of Trust Fraud

Advance Fee Fraud

Insider Dealing (Primary and Secondary Markets)

At MPR Solicitors, we have the experience in all types of fraud and complex crime and can put in place at very short notice a cohesive pro-active defence team to assist individuals and corporate entities being investigated by the authorities. MPR Solicitors have close ties and links with forensic accountants experienced in producing reports and financial analysis of a standard required for expert evidential purposes in a court of law. We also have close ties and working relationships with specialist highly skilled barristers and QCs (Queens Counsel) in the area of fraud work, tax investigations and serious company/financial related crime. MPR’s Senior Partner is also a senior barrister specialising in all aspects of serious fraud work and business crime and has been involved is some of the largest fraud cases in the jurisdiction of England & Wales.

We understand that many people facing fraud charges or being investigated for fraud/economic crime have never faced criminal proceedings and the process can be very stressful for the individuals and their families. For example, a dawn raid by officials from HMRC waking the family in the early hours of the morning, conducting meticulous searches of the home or company premises without notice can be distressing. Most people would not know their rights and entitlements in such situations. That is why at MPR Solicitors, we are on call 24 hours a day and can deploy experienced lawyers to be present during a raid and can advise at every step of the way in an understanding and sympathetic manner whilst being robust and strategic with the opposition. Sometimes, these types of investigations require parallel proceedings in the High Court to fight freezing orders and we can arrange appropriate legal representation.

Below are some examples of fraud cases in which MPR Solicitors have recently been instructed in:

Lottery Funding Fraud being investigated by the City of London Police

Husband and Wife prosecuted for alleged fraud whilst being employed by the Ministry of Defence

Allegations of Conspiracy to defraud and Fraud by False Representation by DWP against individuals in an Access to Work programme run by JobCentre Plus grant scheme whereby it is alleged over £1 million was defrauded

Factoring Fraud by a Recruitment Consultant being investigated by the City of London Police

A conspiracy to defraud by employees of a major international airline at Heathrow Airport

Large-scale Benefit Fraud Investigation linked to a HMRC tax evasion investigation

MOD Police investigation into an alleged fraud by an employee

HMRC tax investigation on undeclared income arising from bank interest and rents from buy-to-let properties

Acting for two solicitors alleged to be involved in a multi-million pound conspiracy to defraud being investigated by City of London police with parallel proceedings in the High Court; including Regulatory and Professional Discipline issues.

If you or a family member are facing investigation or prosecution for fraud offences, call MPR Solicitors on 0208 607 4660 and ask to speak to one of our specialist quality solicitors in Fraud and Financial Crime for an initial no-obligation consultation.

MPR Quality Solicitors in Criminal Defence cover the following geographical areas (non-exhaustive list): City of London, London and the South East, Staines, Heathrow, Gatwick, Feltham, Uxbridge, Harrow, High Wycombe, Maidenhead, Marlow, Essex, Croydon, Surrey including Guildford, Woking, Dorking, Weybridge, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Coventry, Sheffield, East Midlands, West Midlands, Lincolnshire, Cardiff, Dover, Maidstone, Southampton, Exeter.

MPR solicitors were asked to represent an individual stopped under the UK’s most draconian stop and search powers introduced by Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at Heathrow Airport. The client was entering the UK from the Middle East and was a suspected terrorist with links to underground opposition parties in Bahrain and Al Quaeda. One of MPR’s expert criminal solicitors in Terrorism Law was instructed to advise and represent. The case was successfully resolved after the advice given by specialist Terrorism lawyer at MPR Solicitors. Our client’s main concern was not to be associated with the false accusations of being involved in terrorist activities or being linked to underground organisations in his country of origin.

Under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, police officers are able to stop, interrogate and search travellers at UK ports and airports without the need for reasonable suspicion that the individual is or has been “concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”. The powers have in the past exclusively been used by Special Branch officers because of the sensitive nature of much of the intelligence which forms the basis of the stop and search. However, there appears to be an increasing and alarming trend that officers from other areas of the police service and also officials from UKBA are using these powers to conduct stop and search at ports and airports.

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act allows officers to physically detain suspects for up to 9 hours, strip search them, search and confiscate their belongings for up to 7 days, take DNA, fingerprints and intimate samples and question suspects about their social, religious and political views. Whilst technically not under arrest, and not automatically entitled to consult a lawyer, you can in most cases consult with a lawyer over the telephone and request physical legal representation although if there is a long delay in the arrival of your legal representative, you may be charged with obstruction and any refusal to answer questions is an offence for which the penalty is a custodial sentence and a fine.

At MPR Solicitors, we are uniquely placed to provide rapid deployment of expert legal advice at Heathrow Airport and surrounding detention areas as our Head Offices are located in Hounslow within 15 minutes of Heathrow Airport and its perimeter roads and only 1 hour away from Central London. We also have connections to Gatwick Airport and are able to deploy legal representatives fast and efficiently to assist in emergency situations. Our City of London office can deal with any major terrorism case within Central London.

MPR Solicitors will deploy its  expert terrorism lawyers anywhere within the jurisdiction of England and Wales and we pride ourselves in offering a 24 hour, 7 days a week, fast and highly specialist service.

We have close links with specialist chambers dealing with terrorism and extradition cases and we can instruct expert barristers and QCs to form a pro-active defence team in a client’s case.

For a no obligation consulation from one of our specialist solicitors in Terrorism Law please call us on 020 8607 4660 or email us at law@mprsolicitors.co.uk

MPR Solicitors were instructed to act for a suspect interviewed under caution in relation to the historic allegations of child abuse relating to Jimmy Savile, DJ and BBC presenter of the Jim’ll Fix It show.

Operation Outreach relates to a review of matters relating to Duncroft School in Surrey. In 2009, Savile was interviewed under caution by Surrey Police investigating an allegation of indecent assault at Duncroft Approved School for Girls near Staines, Surrey, in the 1970s where he had been a regular visitor. The CPS advised that there was insufficient evidence to take any further action and no charges were brought.  

Operation Yewtree is being led by the MPS Child Abuse Investigation Command. There is currently a team of 30 detectives involved in the three strands of the investigation. These are defined as ‘Savile’, ‘Savile plus others’ and ‘others’. This report is concerned only with allegations relating to Jimmy Savile.

The first strand is offences believed to have been committed by Jimmy Savile on his own; the second is where victims have said there were other people around Savile who they believe were involved in offending; the third strand involves accounts from people who have come forward as a result of the publicity about Jimmy Savile but who have said they were sexually assaulted by people unconnected to him.

The volume of the allegations that have been made, most of them dating back many years, has made this an unusual and complex inquiry. On the whole victims are not known to each-other and taken together their accounts paint a compelling picture of widespread sexual abuse by a predatory sex offender. We are therefore referring to them as ‘victims’ rather than ‘complainants’ and are not presenting the evidence they have provided as unproven allegations.

Most but not all victims have been interviewed and to date 214 criminal offences have been formally recorded across 28 force areas in which Savile is a suspect.

More details can be found in the joint report into sexual allegations against Jimmy Savile entitled: “Giving Victims a Voice” by Detective Superintendent David Gray and the NSPCC’s Peter Watt. (Click here)

At MPR Solicitors, we understand that these types of cases can be very sensitive and highly distressing for the individual under suspicion and their families: our specialist solicitors and support staff are trained to be sympathetic, understanding and non-judgemental.

In this particular case, we were able to negotiate with the police that the suspect be interviewed at their home address under caution rather than being taken under arrest to a police station. Whilst this is highly unusual, the circumstances of the case were such that unusual steps were taken.

If you or someone you know are facing serious sexual allegations including rape; sexual assault; grooming offences; illegal pornography and indecent images then please call us in order to speak to one of our expert sexual offences solicitors on 020 8607 4660 or email us at law@mprsolicitors.co.uk

MPR solicitors’ specialist sexual offences lawyers were instructed to advise and represent an individual over allegations of historic sexual abuse and child rape going back decades. After extensive police interviews and representations from the legal team, the case was finally dropped by the police in conjunction with advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. Much was down to the unreliable evidence of the alleged complainant whom we discovered had a troubled background and had made false allegations in the past.

It is often good pro-active defence to make pre-charge written representations to the CPS as this can sometimes positively affect a decision in favour of a client whether to charge or not by drawing attention to the weaknesses in the investigation and the evidence. It can be a fine balancing act between giving away too much information or refraining from disclosing important information which may assist the defence case and undermine the Prosecution case. At MPR Solicitors, we can advise you at every step of a police investigation and can on a client’s instructions, make representations to the investigating authorities.

If you or someone you know are facing serious sexual allegations including rape; sexual assault; grooming offences; illegal pornography and indecent images then please call us in order to speak to one of our expert sexual offences solicitors on 020 8607 4660 or email us at law@mprsolicitors.co.uk

MPR Specialist Criminal Solicitors have been instructed to defend in a large-scale firearms conspiracy case which is due to be heard at Croydon Crown Court later this year. The case involves several defendants and is being prosecuted by the Organised Crime Division of the Crown Prosecution Service. The case involves complex forensic issues including ballistics analysis, DNA transfer and cell site evidence.

The defence team at MPR Solicitors is Partner-led as is the case with all serious and complex cases that the Firm handles. We pride ourselves in providing a bespoke individual service to all of our clients.

Our solicitors can advise and assist you on your case from our Head Office in Hounslow, Hammersmith office or at our base in the City of London. Our London Criminal Solicitors can also visit you at your offices or whererever you are based.

If you require a highly personalised service then contact us to see how we could service your individual needs at law@mprsolicitors.co.uk or call us on 0208 607 4660 and ask to speak to one of our Partners in the first instance.

To start the New Year, MPR specialist criminal defence solicitors have been instructed in a multi-handed drugs conspiracy case at the crown court. The SOCA case is due to be joined to another trial in a West London Crown Court and involves many months of covert surveillance and cell site evidence.

The case will be prepared for trial by the Firm’s Complex and Serious Crime Team headed by Senior Partner Abdullah Al-Yunusi.

The client specifically chose MPR Solicitors as he wanted a senior barrister to lead the defence team at an early stage. Abdullah is a senior barrister and prior to joining MPR Solicitors as Senior Partner, practiced as a barrister in a top ranking Barristers Chambers for many years. He is now in dual practice which allows him to practice at the Bar and be a Partner at MPR Solicitors. He brings his wealth of trial advocacy experience to the firm and has a leading role in enhancing the firm’s reputation for robust and effective legal representation.

If you are being investigated or have been charged with a drugs conspiracy or money laundering conspiracy, you need specialist criminal defence solicitors who know what to do. MPR Solicitors have that wealth of experience and our Managing Partner Seema Parikh has written a no-nonsense guide to defending conspiracy cases which can be viewed here: Click to Read

Our solicitors can advise and assist our clients from our Head Office in Hounslow, Hammersmith office or at our base in the City of London. Our London Criminal Solicitors can also visit you at your offices or whererever you are based throughout the UK.

If you think MPR Solicitors can assist you or a member of your family, please get in touch with us for an initial confidential consultation on 020 8607 4660 or email us directly at law@mprsolicitors.co.uk

In 2012, we launched a revolutionary credit-crunch breaking fixed fee initial consultation for £95 plus VAT. To further enhance our value for money service, we have launched fixed fees and easy monthly payment plans for existing and new clients of the firm. We also offer a 10% discount off our normal fees including fixed fees for members of the Armed Forces.*

MPR Solicitors provide specialist advice and representation in a number of areas for private individuals and businesses including sole traders and limited companies. In this current economic climate, the Firm’s focus has been on ways of assisting their clients manage and budget for legal fees. We firmly believe that it is our duty to try to minimise costs for our clients and offer the most cost-effective legal solution. Litigation fees can often spiral out of control if clients are not given a realistic appraisal of their case from the beginning or have unrealistic expectations. It is our professional duty to fully advise clients on their prospects of success and the costs involved so that they can then take a measured decision as to what action to take.

At MPR we are happy to represent clients on Legal Aid. Legal Aid is available subject to means for some of our services. Our soliciitors would be able to assist to determine whether or not you would be eligible for Legal Aid.

At MPR Solicitors, we believe in giving our clients a bespoke personalised service. In larger or more complex cases, each client is assigned a Partner or Senior Solicitor who has overall conduct of the case and is often assisted by a team often including another solicitor and a caseworker. Each client will be given the names of two individuals at the firm with whom they can have contact about their case. In this way, there is a continuity of service and a good rapport can be established with our clients. The Managing Partner also acts as the Firm’s Relationship Manager and regularly makes contact with clients for feedback and to ensure that they are completely satisfied with the level of service they are receiving. In the unlikely event of there being any problems, we like to resolve them immediately and put our clients minds at rest. We firmly believe in providing our clients with a friendly but no-nonsense advice right from the beginning. We also believe in strategic planning and work with our clients to obtain the best possible solution to their cases as cost-effectively as possible for privately-funded cases as we know that costs are always a sensitive issue with clients. We can also offer easy interest free payments plans to assist in budgeting for legal fees and accept payment by credit card.

You can make an appointment to see our london solicitors at our offices in Hounslow, Hammersmith or in Central London.

*This offer does not apply to the £95 plus VAT fixed fee initial consultation

For more information please contact law@mprsolicitors.co.uk or call us on 0208 607 4660.

MPR solicitors have been instructed to represent a suspect for allegations of conspiracy to supply heroin valued at £3.5million and money laundering. The arrests were made in West London and Middlesex involving 9 suspects at this stage and many months of surveillance.

MPR Solicitors were chosen because we specialize in defending large-scale drugs conspiracies usually involving drugs importations, guns, money laundering and people trafficking or a combination of all four. These types of cases are usually investigated by SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) and more often involve multi-suspects and months of surveillance, covert recordings and cell-site evidence. MPR Solicitors specialist criminal defence lawyers have years of experience in dealing with serious and complex crime involving alleged Organised Crime Networks (OCNs). We have been involved in some of the most celebrated and largest drugs conspiracy cases involving vast amounts of drugs, cash and guns.

Our Head Office is based near to London Heathrow Airport which means we are ideally placed to service the needs of our clients throughout the UK. It also means that our solicitors are able to provide a fast response to our clients when arrested for drug importation in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport or entering the UK via the Channel Tunnel.

Below are just a few examples of the types of conspiracy cases our lawyers have been involved in:

Operation Eaglewood involving supply and importation of £100 million cocaine and money laundering

Operation Montecarl involving £1 billion cocaine: largest seizure of cocaine from a ship off the Spanish coast involving multi-jurisdictional investigating agencies.

Operation Mamba and Operation Bradford involving largest corruption case centred around VAT frauds (£150 million) and OCNs with a protected jury at Woolwich Crown Court and the Central Criminal Court.

Operation Devout involving conspiracy to money launder the proceeds of a £200 million MTIC fraud

R v S involving large-scale drugs importations of heroine at Heathrow Airport involving corrupt British Airways baggage handlers

If you are being investigated or have been charged with a drugs conspiracy or money laundering conspiracy, you need specialist criminal defence solicitors who know what to do. MPR Solicitors have that wealth of experience and our Managing Partner Seema Parikh has written a no-nonsense guide to defending conspiracy cases which can be viewed here: Click to Read

Our solicitors  can advise and assist you on your case from our Head Office in Hounslow, Hammersmith office or at our base in the City of London. Our London Defence Solicitors can also visit you at your offices or whererever you are based throughout the UK.

If you think MPR Solicitors can assist you or  a member of your family, please get in touch with us for an initial confidential consultation on 020 8607 4660 or email us directly at law@mprsolicitors.co.uk

To launch the Firm’s Equine Law Department, MPR Solicitors sponsored a race day at the all weather track at Kempton Park Racecourse on 12.12.2012. It was a winter wonderland scene interspersed with the glorious colours of jockeys and the sound of horses thundering past the finishing post.

The department is headed by Seema Parikh, Managing Partner who is passionate about horses. She grew up with horses and is also an avid polo player having learnt some of her skills with the legendary 61^st Cavalry in India. She now rides and plays polo in Epsom and the Home Counties.

It is a well-known fact that a lot of equine business is often concluded by a hand shake and many contracts are oral. In a modern age, this can lead to legal disputes. This is where MPR’s Equine Law Department can assist both individuals and businesses or associations and connections:

• Drafting of sale and purchase agreements
• Livery agreements
• Contractual disputes eg.livery disputes, trainer negligence, veterinary disputes/negligence
• RSPCA and Welfare cases
• Liability arising under the Animals Act 1971

We can act for small businesses, individuals, sole-traders and international connections as we are committed to offering a bespoke Partner-led service for our clients. We are happy to meet on site at your livery yard, stables or offices. If you are located overseas then we can use video conferencing facilities to engage with you at a time that suits you. Our lawyers are committed to offering a highly personalised service so we will make the time for you and at a time that suit you even if it is 3am GMT.

MPR Solicitors are also able to deal with all aspects of regulatory and criminal investigations including banned substance hearings, horse-doping, race-fixing, conspiracies to defraud. Seema Parikh was involved in one of the largest anti-corruption cases in the country (Operation Bradford and Operation Mamba) which involved calling experts in the field of horse-racing to give evidence on race-fixing and spread betting. 

For more information on how we may be able to assist you, please email seema@mprsolicitors.co.uk or call us for a confidential initial consultation on 0208 607 4660.

MPR Solicitors secured the acquittal of an aspiring and talented young film director on charges of money laundering at Snaresbrook Crown Court this week. A conviction would have been devastating for our client as it would have precluded them from working in the USA and made it impossible for them to fly out to the US for film festivals and screenings at short notice under the visa waiver programme. Therefore the stakes were high in this case and the pressure was on for partner Seema Parikh who was the solicitor leading the defence team and specialises in criminal litigation. The added difficulty was that the client had been unrepresented at the police station and had on the literal reading of the police interview transcripts made admissions to the charges.

The case required meticulous case preparation and tactical considerations pre-trial and during  the trial. Defence witnesses from overseas and from the world of Film and Television were called to give evidence. We had to turn the case around and look at it from a completely different angle.

Senior defence counsel from a top 10 set of London Barristers  Chambers was selected to defend the client at trial. Due to her extensive contacts within the legal profession, Seema Parikh was able to secure heavyweight counsel for the case. At MPR Solicitors we only instruct barristers that meet our own very stringent quality criteria and in the majority of cases whom we have seen first hand in action in court. This allows us to have complete confidence in the trial advocate and the reassurance that our clients are getting a first class service from their defence team.

It was a very stressful period in our client’s life and we were on hand to advise throughout and after the trial process. In addition to securing the acquittal, we were able to obtain a defence costs order in favour of our client which means that we will be able to apply to the National Taxing Team to reimburse some if not all of our client’s legal fees and expenses as the case was being funded privately.

It should also be worth noting that if you are required to attend court to give evidence of fact for a defendant, then as a witness you can claim your travel fares and costs for attending court and this includes air travel.

Our client’s latest film has been screened in the UK to much critical acclaim and will now be submitted to the international Tribeca film festival in New York in the Spring of 2013.

We can advise and assist you on your case from our Office in Hounslow, Hammersmith office or at our base in the City of London. Our London Criminal Solicitors can also visit you at your offices or whererever you are based throughout the UK.