Business valuation 

• Robert acted as a single joint expert for a matrimonial dispute. Rob was instructed to value the shares of a company, consider the liquidity position of the business and the ability of the shareholder to extract funds and to consider whether the company should be regarded as a ‘quasi partnership’. Rob’s report was written in compliance with Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010. 

• Rob was instructed to value the shares in a company which owned a restaurant. The dispute related to an unfair prejudice claim against a 70% shareholder. Rob’s valuation report was used at mediation resulting in a favourable settlement for the client. 

• Instructed to value the shares in a company which was placed into liquidation as a result of a mis-sold Interest Rate Hedging Product. Rob prepared a fully CPR compliant expert report in anticipation of issuing formal legal proceedings. Rob’s report resulted in a significant favourable settlement at mediation.

Commercial and contractual disputes 

• Preparation of an expert report for the Court relating to the defence of a $12 million claim. The work involved reviewing the claim put forward, along with a detailed analysis of substantial volumes of accounting information and subsequently Rob provided an expert report for the Court. 

• Preparation of an expert report for a client who issued a claim against the purchaser of her business for breach of contract. Furthermore, the purchaser issued a counterclaim whereby it was alleged that she had breached the warranties on the sale of the business. Following Rob’s investigation and detailed analysis a successful result was achieved at mediation where the client was paid a significant sum of money. 

• Instructed to prepare a CPR compliant report to quantify the loss of profits arising from a mis-sold Interest Rate Hedging Product for legal proceedings. The work involved quantifying the direct losses from the IRHP and consequential losses, which included the sale of properties at undervalue and general loss of profits.

 POCA confiscation

• Instructed by the defence in relation to a client whose cash had been seized by HMRC. The client owned 3 large newsagents which were mainly cash businesses. Rob was instructed to perform a cash tracing exercise to ascertain whether the cash could have come from legitimate trade. As a result of Rob’s work, HMRC returned the cash to the Defendant. 

• Instructed by the defence in relation to a client facing allegations of money laundering. The client owned a money transfer bureau and was involved in hawala banking. Rob performed a detailed analysis of all the financial evidence with a view to justifying the Defendant’s unexplained income. This involved gaining an understanding of a very complicated business and tracing the money through the complex processes. 

• Instructed by the defence in relation to a convicted drug dealer who was facing a confiscation order of in excess of £5 million. The work involved a review of thousands of e-mails in order to create the Defendant’s accounts and calculate the benefit obtained from his crime. Based on Rob’s evidence, the confiscation order was reduced to under £300,000. 

Fraud & Money Laundering 

• Instructed to defend an individual accused of evading income tax. The work involved re-calculation of 12 years of profit and loss accounts to calculate the tax that would have been payable. Rob gave evidence in court. 

• Instructed to defend an individual accused of a Ponzi fraud. The work involved review and analysis of a significant volume of papers to prepare schedules and an expert report for the defence team. Rob entered into various discussions with the opposing forensic accountant, preparing schedule of agreed points. Rob gave evidence in Court.