Christopher Sykes
2015
Christopher specialises in financial crime, confiscation, and professional discipline.
Christopher acts for authorities and individuals in civil and criminal matters concerning the proceeds of crime. He frequently appears in contested matters arising from the detention and forfeiture of bank accounts, cash, real property, and cryptocurrency. He advises financial institutions, individuals, and victims whose interests have been harmed by financial wrongdoing. He regularly advises and appears for enforcement authorities in complex operations involving civil recovery, organised crime, and terrorism.
Christopher represents both prosecution and defence in criminal proceedings arising from fraud and other financial crime. He recently acted as junior counsel and disclosure counsel in two complex FCA prosecutions. He has an ongoing role acting for the defence on behalf of a corporation in connection with the Grenfell Inquiry.
Christopher is well-placed to advise in cases at the intersection of the criminal and regulatory jurisdictions. He has worked with senior members of Chambers on internal investigations into alleged misconduct within corporations, and regularly appears for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers in proceedings against legal practitioners for breaches of money laundering regulations. Christopher’s clients benefit from his knowledge of financial regulation gained from secondments with the Bank of England and HMRC.
Christopher also has extensive experience advising and appearing for healthcare regulators and registrants in disciplinary proceedings. His work has involved advocacy and advice in complex cases involving expert evidence, whistleblowers, and sexual misconduct.
Christopher is Panel C counsel for the Serious Fraud Office.
Corporate Investigations and Fraud
Corporate Investigations and Fraud
Internal investigation: Worked with a senior member of Chambers on an internal investigation of sexual misconduct within a major corporation.
Operation K: Junior counsel for the FCA in the prosecution of mortgage fraud and regulatory breaches under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Operation D: Disclosure counsel for the FCA in the prosecution of directors for fraud leading to the collapse of a credit union.
Project L: Part of the team representing the interests of a corporation under investigation in the context of the Grenfell Inquiry.
Bank of England: Seconded in an advisory role to decision-makers concerned with the regulatory investigation of former HBOS senior managers.
Eim/Stacha v Lewis: Mitigated on behalf of an accountant who had admitted contempt following breach of a freezing injunction arising from a default judgment of €4.4m.
Andreewitch v Moutreuil: Successfully argued before the Court of Appeal that a finding of contempt was unjust since the lower court had disregarded the right to silence.
Proceeds of Crime
Proceeds of Crime
Operation R: Acting for the Police in forfeiture proceedings arising from an investigation into the large-scale misuse of care homes for money laundering.
Operation S: Acting for the Police in forfeiture proceedings arising from an investigation into money service businesses alleged to hold over £500,000 of recoverable property derived from money laundering.
Operation L: Acting for the Police in cash forfeiture proceedings against an individual found in possession of over £200,000.
Operation B: Acted for the Police in applications for forfeiture orders worth over £160,000 against businesses suspected of large-scale money laundering.
Police v ZS: Acted for a Chinese student in forfeiture proceedings concerning over £40,000 of cryptocurrency and allegations of ‘underground banking’.
HMRC v F: Representing an international cash management service from which some £350,000 has been seized by Border Force.
HMRC v YY: Secured the release of £5,500 cash seized by Border Force from businesspersons travelling to the UAE.
County Council v TB: Acted for a local authority in complex proceedings to lift the available amount by ‘piercing the corporate veil’ of a company belonging to a defendant convicted of trading standards offences.
Professional Discipline
CLC v NM: Acting for the CLC in proceedings against a practitioner alleged to have facilitated the dissipation of £100,000 of client funds in breach of money laundering regulations.
GDC v XX: Acting for the GDC in complex proceedings against a dentist alleged to have endangered patients by the misuse of high-strength opioids.
GDC v Ostovan: Presented the case against a dentist accused of sexual misconduct against patients (BBC).
GDC v CA: Presented the case against a dentist who had severely injured a patient and then lied to conceal the incident.
Professional Discipline and Regulation
Publications
Christopher has drafted in-depth briefings for Westlaw on the principal money laundering offences, suspicious activity reports, and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He has contributed to chapters of “The UK Anti-Bribery Handbook” (Bloomsbury, 2022) concerning bribery of a foreign public official and deferred prosecution agreements.
Christopher has drafted training for legal professionals seeking to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and sanctions regimes.
Memberships
- Proceeds of Crime Lawyers’ Association
- Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association
- Criminal Bar Association