Ask the Expert: Commercial fraud
Paul Jonson, head of dispute resolution at Pannone LLP, helps businesses with advice on responding to fraud.
All answers are for general guidance only. Each case must be handled on the individual facts.
Q: What options have I if my business has been the victim of a fraud?
A business has a number of options in a situation like this. One option of course is to report the matter to the police. There are advantages and disadvantages to this course of action. It is a good idea to check with your company insurance policy to see what action your insurer requires. Usual next steps would be to identify the approximate amount of the fraud and the likely identity of the fraudster. An investigation will usually be needed to establish these facts and your business’s options will turn on the answers to these questions for example:
• You may be able to apply to court for a “search and seize” order allowing your solicitors to attend at the fraudster’s home to search for and collect evidence of wrong doing. The fraudster will not be notified of the search in advance.
• You may also be in a position to apply to court to freeze a fraudster’s assets and bank accounts and preserve any sums that may have been obtained fraudulently until trial.
• You may also be in a position to apply to court to require the fraudster to attend court and be cross-examined about his assets and what he has done with them.
All of the three remedies above are based on injunctive relief and can be obtained quickly in appropriate cases. Once the assets derived from proceeds of the fraud have been identified, or if the proceeds of the fraud itself are still available and frozen by the courts, then the next step is to commence legal proceedings against those involved in the fraud to recover the assets.
If the fraud does not concern money but some other asset such as confidential information, many of the remedies referred to above (such as a search and seize order) still apply.
Contact details
Susan.rigg@pannone.co.uk
0800 840 4929
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