Lisa Freeman

Year of Call: 2005

Specialist practice areas: Civil & Criminal Fraud, Confiscation, Restraint, Receivership and Civil Recovery, Money Laundering and Insolvency

Civil and Criminal Fraud and Asset Forfeiture

Lisa Freeman's principal practice areas are criminal and civil fraud, criminal confiscation, restraint and receiverships, civil recovery and cash forfeiture, money laundering (advice and litigation), police investigations, legal professional privilege and insolvency.

Lisa prosecutes, defends and acts on behalf of third parties (individuals, corporations and court appointed receivers) in equal measures.

Lisa is appointed to the Attorney General's List for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and instructed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Proceeds of Crime Unit of the Crown Prosecution Service (POCU) and the Directorate of Legal Services for the Metropolitan Police Services to act as counsel in investigations, prosecutions and quasi-criminal litigation in connection with financial crime.

Lisa is experienced dealing with complex financial investigation and is able to quickly absorb voluminous material to identify key evidence. Her fraud practice has thrived over recent years following a period of time on secondment to the FSA working on one of the largest and most high-profile insider dealing investigations. Recent instructions for the defence include a high-profile SFO prosecution for a £multi-million international conspiracy to defraud. She undertakes VHCC work.

Lisa is a specialist in asset recovery. She is experienced dealing with legally and factually multifaceted confiscation proceedings under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (CJA), the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 (DTA) and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). She is frequently instructed in the enforcement of confiscation orders and ancillary applications for enforcement receiverships, certificates of inadequacy (CJA and DTA) and reconsideration/ inadequacy (POCA).

Lisa is often instructed in pre-charge restraint and receivership proceedings and has appeared in a range of diverse applications relating to restrained property. For example, she frequently appears in the ancillary relief applications (Family Division, High Court), applications under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (Chancery Division, High Court) and possession proceedings (County Court).

Lisa has a particular interest in representing Third Parties (individuals and corporations) with an interest in property caught by the terms of a restraint order. Her civil work also includes asset freezing before the Chancery Division, High Court.

Lisa is regularly instructed by Applicants, Respondents and Third Parties in recovery of cash proceedings. She dealt with numerous applications arising from Operation Rize where assets were seized from three safety deposit box companies in London.

Lisa advises UK authorities in the growing area of civil recovery investigations.

Lisa was seconded to the Asset Forfeiture Division of RCPO in 2007/8 and the Wholesale Enforcement Division of the FSA in 2008/9.

Money Laundering

Lisa advises financial institutions and solicitors' firms on making authorised disclosures to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) to comply with money laundering regulations.

Police Investigations and Legal Professional Privilege

Lisa regularly provides advice and representation to UK authorities, individuals and corporations at the investigatory stage, including:

• Applications to quash production orders, disclosure orders and search and seizure warrants (PACE, POCA).
• Acting as Independent Counsel to resolve issues of Legal Professional Privilege.
• Drafting Letters of Request to foreign governments.
• Advising on matters of Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA).
• Advising on the registration and effect of orders outside the jurisdiction of England and Wales.
• Providing specific advice to UK authorities on the disclosure of contentious categories of material in financial investigations.

Regulatory Tribunals

Lisa regularly provides advice and representation for regulatory proceedings including appearances in the General Medical Council ("GMC"), Optical Medical Council ("OMC"), Regulatory Decisions Committee ("RDC") and in Directors' Disqualification proceedings before the Companies Court. Lisa has a particular interest in regulatory proceedings, which are instigated as a result of a parallel criminal investigation.

In a recent case Lisa appeared on behalf of a Director in an application under s.6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (unfit directors of insolvent companies) where the company was no longer able to pay its debts due to the imposition of a criminal restraint order.

Extradition

Lisa has represented foreign governments and defendants in proceedings brought under Part 1 and Part 2 of the Extradition Act 2003 before the High Court and at first instance. Cases include allegations of attempted murder, large-scale drug importations and £multi-million frauds.

She also advises on the validity of incoming extradition requests under Part 3 and identifies potential avenues of abuse.

Other Interests

Lisa is qualified to accept instructions on a direct access basis. The Public Access Scheme allows members of the public to instruct barristers direct to provide advice and representation in connection with proceedings in which it is likely that the lay client would not be eligible for public funding (legal aid).

Recent instructions include acting for respondents in insolvency proceedings, directors' disqualification proceedings, bankruptcy proceedings and claimants in civil actions for debt recovery.

Notable Cases - current and recent instructions

Fraud and Confiscation

SFO v Edward Davenport (Southwark Crown Court; Central Criminal Court) [2010-present] - Led by QC for principal Defendant in a 4 month £multi-million international conspiracy to defraud (advance fee fraud) trial.

FSA v Christian Littlewood (Southwark Crown Court) [2011-present] - Led by QC for principle Defendant in confiscation proceedings following a conviction for 8 counts of insider dealing.

FSA/CPS v Christopher Wilmot (Southwark Crown Court) [2011-present] - Led by QC in confiscation proceedings following a conviction for £28m boiler room fraud.

R v Darren Bagnall [2012] EWCA 677; Manchester Crown Court [2008-2010] - Led by QC for RCPO/CPS in confiscation proceedings where the statutory assumptions were applied to £multi-million transfers alleged to be the proceeds of a Missing Trader Intra-Community ("MTIC") or carousel fraud. Appeal dismissed on the grounds that it did not amount to the bringing of a new charge within the autonomous convention meaning (art.6(2)), nor was it an abuse of process/ breach of Art.6(1) to require DB to rebut the assumptions.

R v Ahmad (Isleworth Crown Court) [2011-2012] - Leading junior for confiscation proceedings following a conviction for money laundering £42m.

R v SS (Southampton Crown Court) [2011] - Negotiated plea and confiscation for SS charged with laundering the proceeds of a £multi-million ‘long firm' fraud.

Restraint, Receivership and Civil Freezing Injunctions

Independent Trustees Limited (Central Criminal Court) [2011] - Variation of restraint order obtained by SFO.

Sir E (deceased) [2011] - advised executors of a will on the effect of a restraint and confiscation order made against a debtor and beneficiary of the estate.

Re Jalil (Queen's Bench Division, High Court) [2011] - Appeared for the 2nd Interested Party ("Y") in an application by the CPS for a declaration of beneficial interest and the appointment of an enforcement receiver over property owned by the 2nd Interested Party. CPS failed to demonstrate that the 1st and 2nd Respondents' retained any beneficial interest in the property.

Re T [2010-present] - Instructed by T to secure the return of an investment made with a Jersey company (struck off) and a Defendant charged with an SFO.

Re IST Limited [2010] - Instructed by IST Limited to vary the terms of a restraint order in which the CPS purported to treat the company assets as the realisable assets of the Defendant ("lifting the corporate veil"). Following service of a detailed skeleton argument the CPS consented to the order sought.

R v HA (Queen's Bench Division, High Court) [2009-2011] - Appeared for Defendant in numerous applications arising from restraint, receivership and confiscation proceedings (CJA 1988). Litigation complicated by the involvement of the Official Receiver, property possession orders and civil actions for recovery by alleged victims of fraud.

Project Saturn (FSA investigation for insider dealing) (Southwark Crown Court; Court of Appeal) [2008-present] - Junior restraint counsel for one of the FSA's largest and most high-profile conspiracy to commit insider dealing investigation.

FSA v Anderson, Peacock and Pruthi (Chancery Division, High Court) [2009-2010] - Appeared on behalf of 1st and 2nd Defendants' in successful application to vary a freezing injunction. Advised on the application for summary judgment/ strike out of the FSA's claim that the Defendants had been carrying on a regulated activity (deposit taking in excess of £90 million) without being an authorised person (s.19(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000). Defendants ultimately appeared in person following the imposition of a POCA restraint order and refusal to release restrained funds. See FSA v Anderson [2010] EWHC 308 (Ch); FSA v Anderson [2010] EWHC 599 (Ch); and FSA v Anderson [2010] EWHC 1547 (Ch).

R v D (Queen's Bench Division, High Court) [2008-2009] - Led by QC for RCPO in application to appoint a receiver over property held by Third Parties.

Civil Recovery

Operation G (Civil Recovery Investigation) [2008-present] - Advising RCPO/CPS in respect of a civil recovery investigation linked to a MTIC fraud prosecution.

Civil and Regulatory

Portland Place (Historic House) Ltd and others v Secretary of State (Commercial Court) [2011] - Represented the company director in the first application for leave to remain as a director under s.17 Company Directors' Act where the director was disqualified for 10 years by the Crown Court following a criminal conviction.

EY v Information Commission and Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (Upper Tribunal) [2011-present] - Instructed by MHRA in an appeal against the Information Commissioners' decision that s.41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applied to redacted parts of a report on the results of a clinical trial.

Extradition

Sonea v Mehedinti District Court [2009] 2 All E.R. 821; [2009] Extradition L.R. 136 - Appeared for Appellant in High Court extradition proceedings. The Court set out and construed the step-by-step process for determining whether a convicted person was liable to discharge, retrial or extradition under the Extradition Act 2003.

Lacorre v High Instance Court of Paris [2008] EWHC 2981 (Admin); [2009] Extradition L.R. 11 -Appeared for Appellant in High Court extradition proceedings. European Arrest Warrant discharged for the substantive offence where conduct could not be sufficiently identified in the requesting country.

Other

R v Askew (Alfred John) [2007] EWCA Crim 2719 - Appeared for Appellant in the Court of Appeal for an appeal against sentence for contempt of court (intimidation of jurors).

Additional Information

Lisa is well versed in Human Rights and obtained an LLM in International Human Rights Law (University of Essex, 2003). Thesis: "The prosecution of nationals for article 4 crimes, a corollary of ratification" (distinction).

Lisa is a member of the Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association, the Young Fraud Lawyers Association, the Criminal Bar Association and the Extradition Lawyers Association.