Andrew Bird QC acted for the Serious Fraud Office in its confiscation proceedings against Petrofac Limited. At a hearing on 4 October 2021, at Southwark Crown Court, a confiscation order in the sum of £22,837,985 was imposed upon the FT-SE Listed company in addition to a fine of £47,197,640.
An added complexity to the confiscation proceedings was that Petrofac was the parent of the subsidiaries which had entered into the corrupt contracts, and had been convicted of failing to prevent bribery, so the caselaw concerning the conventional benefit from bribery or corruption had to be applied to meet the particular circumstances of the case.
Andrew had also appeared as counsel for the Appellant in R v Powell [2016] EWCA Crim 1043, one of the cases cited by the Judge at today’s hearing.
Jonathan Kinnear QC, Howard Watkinson both from 2 Hare Court, and Tom Payne from Red Lion Chambers acted for the SFO in the prosecution and sentence of Petrofac Limited in relation to the substantive offences.
Andrew Bird QC took silk in March 2021. He is a specialist in white-collar crime, civil and criminal asset forfeiture, and civil and public law proceedings which overlap with the criminal process. He is ranked in The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and Who's Who Legal.
