Andrew Bird KC and John McNamara acted for the criminal accountant, the second defendant, in the large VAT and CIS Fraud prosecuted by the CPS Serious Economic, Organised Crime and International Directorate.
The tax loss was calculated to be around £22 million, but the crown alleged the potential loss to be £50 million. The conspiracy had an international dimension, with offending allegedly taking place in Spain and the UAE. The fraud involved over 40 companies and 29 defendants.
The Crown alleged that the fraud allowed for other criminals to launder the proceeds of their drug trafficking, with £2 million being laundered through the fraud. Through arguments put forward by Andrew and John the court did not accept that and did not proceed to sentence on that basis.
Andrew and John were instructed by Gerry McDonald of EBR Attridge.
Andrew Bird KC 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. Alongside his WWL ranking, he is also recognised in Chambers & Partners in the fields of POCA & Asset Forfeiture, Financial Crime, and Private Prosecutions - Financial Crime. He is ranked in The Legal 500 in the field of POCA & Asset Forfeiture.
John McNamara has been ranked in the directors for his POCA work since 2022. He acts for both individuals and companies responding to orders, and has a detailed understanding of law enforcement’s approach to these cases.
John is experienced in acting in complex and high value asset recovery proceedings.
