Assisting a Client in a Criminal Proceeds Recovery Action (Name Withheld) – Forensic Experts

 

Our client was being pursued by the Commissioner of Police who had restrained significant assets in front of an application for forfeiture. Our client had not been charged with any criminal offence in New Zealand notwithstanding that allegations had been made against him in a foreign jurisdiction.

 

Senior Counsel instructed us to review the reconstruction already completed by overseas law enforcement and advise on how our review impacted on the case for the Commissioner. The transactions we looked at were complicated and the underlying material was often incomplete. We reviewed a large volume of material and interviewed witnesses both in New Zealand and overseas. 

 

Our work established that the foreign law enforcement agency’s investigation was materially deficient. Our reconstruction established alternative and commercially robust explanations for the transactions and confirmed to our satisfaction and that of Senior Counsel that the criminal allegations made offshore would not likely be sustained in a New Zealand Court. It was our view, and counsel’s, that the case brought by the Commissioner could be successfully challenged, given its reliance on the underlying overseas reconstruction. 

 

For a number of reasons that are confidential, the client decided to pursue a negotiated settlement. This resulted in restrained assets being released and the client being able to move on with personal and business affairs.

​

​

​