Concerns about unethical or unlawful conduct typically arise in relation to criminal laws around fraud, embezzlement, bribery (including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Bribery Act), market manipulation, sanctions-busting, tax evasion and money laundering. However, they can also involve billing and accounting practices, insurance claims and securities law. Regardless of the issue, our lawyers will work closely with you to find effective solutions.

Eversheds Sutherland represents leading corporations and senior executives in the financial services, insurance energy and environmental, diversified industrial, construction, metals, mining, retail and food and drink sectors. We work in all of the world’s major economies (particularly the United States and the European Union) and have extensive experience in developing countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Our recent experience includes:

• representing Enron in connection with investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice West Coast Enron Task Force and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
• advising a communications company on allegations of fraud and bribery in its operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• advising the only Arthur Andersen engagement partner of Enron not to be charged civilly or criminally.
• defending a former director of the global supermarket operator Tesco PLC in an investigation by the UK Serious Fraud office.
• advising a financial institution under investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for improper lending practices and financial reporting.
• defending an aviation services company under investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office for fraud and bribery.
• representing the former president of NYSE company, who was the subject of a criminal prosecution, Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action and a corporate investigation.

When individuals or companies find themselves in the crosshairs, they turn to Eversheds Sutherland’s fraud and white-collar crime team.

Our international team has the experience and expertise to advise both the victims of fraud and those accused of fraud on all aspects of these issues:

• immediate steps to take after the identification/accusation of a fraud, including in relation to document preservation, claims to legal professional privilege, and interim relief (including Bankers Trust orders, worldwide freezing orders, passport seizure orders, Norwich Pharmacal orders, pre-action/non-party disclosure orders, search and seizure and delivery up orders);
• development, coordination and deployment of strategies involving civil litigation, contentious insolvency, and criminal law tools across multiple jurisdictions through our international footprint of offices and network of relationship firms (in both common law and civil law jurisdictions), including dealing with local law enforcement who might be investigating matters in parallel;
• obtaining final relief, including different forms of judgment, on the basis of a variety of causes of action including claims relating to receipt, breach of trust, deceit, unjust enrichment, unlawful means conspiracy, breach of fiduciary or statutory duty, and insolvency claims;
• cross-border recognition of judgments for enforcement purposes, and recognition of insolvency officeholders for use of their statutory powers in different jurisdictions for investigative and enforcement purposes; and
• ancillary issues including data protection, confidentiality, employee protection, preventative/remedial consulting services, and financial crime advice (including anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, and criminal fraud).

Our experience includes:

• acting in one of the highest value fraud claims ever brought before the English Commercial Court (just under US$1 billion) in a case concerning allegations of bribery and corruption against a number of prominent defendants, including large financial institutions;
• acting for an oil and gas corporate in claims against nine defendants seeking to recover US$87 million misappropriated from it in a fraudulent scheme relating to the purchase of an offshore mobile oil rig.  We acted for the client at a 10-day trial resulting in judgment against eight of the defendants; and
• acting for a global bank in defence of complex multiparty proceedings brought by some 330 high net worth individual claimants (many of whom are celebrities and professional sportspeople) seeking to recover upwards of £150 million.  The claim involves allegations of unlawful means conspiracy and dishonest assistance arising out of funding provided by the bank to the creator of a number of tax-efficient film finance schemes to enable investments by the individual investors.