Forensic & Investigatory Services

Case Citations

Case Study 1

The Grenada National Stadium (Grenada)

Stephon Grey served as the Forensic Auditor on behalf of the liquidator for ICS (Grenada) Ltd. Re: “The Grenada National Stadium controversy” This multi-million dollar matter surrounding the structural collapse of a football and athletic stadium was heard in the International Court of Arbitration and the High Courts of Grenada. Asset Tracing identified cash and offshore bank accounts.

Case Study 2

Federal Republic of Brazil/ Paulo Maluf

The firm acted for the Federal Republic of Brazil and the Municipality of São Paulo. The former mayor of São Paulo, Paulo Maluf had stolen many hundreds of millions of USD$ and laundered them through a very complex trust and offshore company structure. The Maluf matter is a totemic example of corruption in Brazil. Two BVI companies were successfully sued for dishonestly assisting in the fraud and knowingly receiving the proceeds of it. The case was proved at trial and judgment in the sum of approximately USD$ 30million given in favour of Brazil. Substantial sums were recovered. The firm now acts for the liquidators of the two BVI companies in innovative proceedings to recover the balance of what is owed.

Case Study 3

Federal Republic of Nigeria (FGN)/ Sani Abacha

The firm was instructed on behalf of the FGN. It›s advice significantly contributed to the recovery of over USD$ 2billion. Sani Abacha, the former president of FGN, his family, and friends looted the Nigerian Treasury by a variety of dishonest schemes and laundered the funds through offshore accounts and structures. This firm designed the strategy which has recovered approximately USD$ 500million from the offshore company Doraville through use of non-conviction based forfeiture regimes.

Case Study 4

First-Citizens bank

Stephon Grey served as a sub-contractor to Kroll UK Ltd, in a case where the National Energy Corporation (NEC) officials discovered millions of dollars missing from its USD$ Account. Money was transferred to Bank accounts in Boston, Antigua, Dubai, and Guyana. Approximately US$4.6million was recovered by the state bank from foreign financial institutions. Approximately US$5 million in overseas bank accounts was frozen.

Case Study 5

Kenyan Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission

This firm acted for the Kenyan Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Former Minister Chris Okewu and the former Chief Executive of Kenyan Power and Light Company were accused of receiving dishonest, corrupt payments. Those sums were paid to an offshore company Windward Trading. This firm designed the strategy whereby proceedings were commenced in an offshore court and resulted in the repatriation of the stolen assets, in this case, by criminal prosecution of the company for money laundering.

Case study 6

Pakistan National Accountability Bureau

This firm was instructed by the Pakistan National Accountability Bureau in a series of cases involving Bennazar Bhutto, Afzal Zafatri, Happy Minwalla and others. Assets were recovered and repatriated to Pakistan by a variety of means.

Case study 7

Cross-Border Investigation

Stephon Grey served as a Financial Investigator concerning the enforcement of an award issued by the District Court of Harris County, Texas, for USD$ 35,372,130, plus prejudgment interest of USD$ 324,648.32 as well as an award rendered in the United Kingdom for £9,052,132.69.

Case study 8

The Maurice Bishop International Airport

Stephon Grey conducted the Internal Control Review, Examination, and Process Re-Engineering of the financial & audit operations following International Standards.

Our Services

Forensic Investigations

Our investigatory expertise covers all forms of accounting and financial fraud including, the compliance auditing of suspect contracts, forensic accounting, damages calculations and reconstruction of accounting records.

Asset Tracing

With financial and asset misappropriation on the rise, we can gather, trace and find evidence on hidden assets through systematic analysis of a wide range of data repositories around the globe with strategically targeted inquiries.

Special Investigations

As expert fraud investigators, we can handle all aspects of the investigation into suspected acts of fraud and abuse in a manner that maximizes your likelihood of successful litigation and recovery of lost resources.

Asset Recovery

We have unparalleled experience in bringing and defending major international fraud claims and asset recovery actions before the courts. We act for foreign governments, NGOs, multinational corporations, and private individuals in some of the most complex and high-value political corruption, forfeiture and judgment enforcement actions, including:

1. Asset tracing claims;
2. Confiscation proceedings;
3. Freezing injunctions;
4. Disclosure orders;
5. Search and seizure orders;
6. Civil fraud claims;
7. Fraudulent breach of trust claims.

Corporate Intelligence

Using our well-established global network of agents and contacts, we can undertake due diligence and investigative research in several worldwide jurisdictions, including the Caribbean, North & South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Civil & Commercial Litigation

Baker & Partners has a leading reputation for resolving high-value, and often complex, civil and commercial disputes. We act for local and international businesses, banks, and financial institutions as well as consumers in a range of actions including:

1. Shareholder disputes;
2. Banking litigation;
3. Civil fraud claims;
4. Breach of contract/covenant claims;
5. Professional negligence;
6. Injunctions and disclosure orders;
7. Conflict of laws and jurisdiction disputes.

Regulatory & Insolvency

Baker & Partners’ Regulatory and Insolvency team brings together extensive legal, accounting, and commercial experience of Jersey’s financial services industry. The firm is regularly instructed by regulators, insolvency practitioners, financial institutions, and private individuals to advise and act in an array of often highly complex and challenging situations, such as AML/CFT compliance and civil and criminal fraud.

Trust Disputes

We have acted for beneficiaries, trustees, and other fiduciaries on a range of contentious trust matters. Our lawyers have been at the forefront of the most complex, high value, and hostile trust litigation in Jersey, including long-running litigation relating to the administration of a substantial family charitable trust, which resulted in orders for the removal of the corporate trustee.

Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption

Our expertise includes the provision of an extensive range of assistance on anti-corruption-related matters covering pre-transaction, post-acquisition integration, and ongoing monitoring. Our services include Forensic Accounting Investigations of alleged violations of anti-corruption legislation, Compliance Program Review and Implementation, Anti-Bribery, and Anti-Bribery Controls Analysis.

Forensic Review of Capital Projects

Companies can lose from 10% to 50% and more budgeted CAPEX due to fraud and conflicts of interest. With our distinctive approach, our clients can be helped to mitigate such risk: we contrast benchmark costs to market prices, check actual volumes and quality of work on site and identify diverted funds. We answer the questions of who, what, where, when, and how?

Contract Compliance Auditing

Intelligent strategies must be developed to fight organized crime. Contract compliance audits are a valuable component of finding and preventing fraud in the energy, public, and procurement sector.

Anti-Money Laundering Compliance

We combat financial terrorism by combining local, regional, and international experience in anti-money laundering, CFT sanctions, and compliance to proactively improve the quality of due diligence by the financial community in today’s marketplace. Our other services include; Forensic & Anti-Fraud Training; Governance Risk & Compliance; Fraud Prevention and Process Re-Engineering; Computer Forensics & Data Recovery

Our Experts

Our experts have been instrumental in the recovery of billions of dollars stolen from states which have been the victim of political corruption.

They have acted on behalf of many countries. They have unrivalled experience in the misuse of offshore banks, trust and company service providers, and other financial services in the laundering of the proceeds of corruption.

Stephon Grey

Mr. Stephon Grey is the Head of Forensic & Investigatory Services at Baker & Partners.

Stephon is an International Asset Tracing expert, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and Forensic Auditor with eighteen (18) years’ experience and expertise in; Asset Tracing;

Contractor Audits for Oil and Gas; Corruption Investigations; Forensic Accounting & Auditing; Follow the Money Investigations; Corporate Intelligence; Forensic & Anti-Fraud Training.

As an Asset Tracing expert, he has served as an advisor in the implementation process of asset recovery agencies in the Caribbean & East Africa. With clientele in the Caribbean, Americas, Asia, and Europe, he has also served as a Consultant for five (5) of the world’s leading international investigative and audit firms, carrying out Asset Tracing & Forensic Audit assignments.

Stephon is considered an Oil and Gas Contract and Procurement audit expert. He has executed sixty-four (64) such exercises, in the energy sector, as an Independent Assessor to three (3) major energy conglomerates, with his work resulting in millions of dollars in contract fraud and abuse, being identified, recovered and saved.

He is also the founder and Executive Head of the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting and has carried out International Asset Tracing and Recovery Speaking Engagements in the Caribbean, Ecuador, Thailand, Florida, Ethiopia, Miami, and Hong Kong.

Key accomplishments include;

• Served as an Advisor on Asset Tracing & Recovery Investigations on six (6) cases for the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) of Guyana.
• An Asset Tracing expert, he has served as an advisor in the implementation process of the Asset Recovery Task Force in Ethiopia.
• Served as the Technical Advisor to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) for two money laundering case matters before the courts.
• Served as the Independent Assessor for a (7) year period for the energy company, British Gas.

Stephen Baker

Mr. Stephen Baker is an English barrister and advocate in Jersey, Channel Islands. He is called to the bar of the British Virgin Islands. He is Senior Partner of Baker & Partners, whose lawyers are qualified in many offshore jurisdictions, including Jersey, BVI, Cayman Islands, and most of the British offshore centres. He is an expert in the investigation and recovery of assets hidden in offshore structures by means of both civil and criminal processes, including non-conviction-based forfeiture regimes.

He was formerly head of the International Bar Association Anti-Corruption Subcommittee on Asset Recovery. He acts or has acted for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan National Accountability Bureau, the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission, the Federal Republic of Brazil and the Municipality of Sao Paulo in corruption cases. Cases in which Stephen has been instructed include Brazil v Durant and Kildare (Bagudu, Bhojwani, Abacha (re Nigeria), Bhutto, and Zardari, Ul Haq, Minwalla (Pakistan), Gichuru, Okewu, Windward Trading (Kenya).

Stephen is an extremely experienced trial lawyer. He has prosecuted the most serious frauds involving the misuse of offshore trusts and companies. He has appeared at trial representing the Claimants in very substantial civil frauds.

He has acted repeatedly as an Inspector appointed by the Jersey Financial Services Commission in cases where the most severe money laundering was suspected.

As an expert in the interaction between criminal and civil asset recovery actions and in the interrelationship between asset recovery efforts in jurisdiction with common and civil law traditions.

He works closely with the OECD/ World Bank Stolen Assets Recovery initiative, most recently in the publication of “Going for Broke,” a guide to the use of insolvency tools in recovering the proceeds of corruption.

Key accomplishments include;

• Stephen’s advice and representation have significantly contributed to the recovery of over USD$ 2 billion looted by kleptocrat governments.
• From 2001 to 2003, he was the Senior Legal Adviser to the Attorney General of Jersey. He headed multiple corruption and money laundering investigations, which involved a series of offshore banks and Trust companies.
• Stephen advised the Attorney General of Guernsey in the case involving Lazarenko, the former Premier of Ukraine, who stole hundreds of millions of US Dollars from Ukraine, which was laundered through Guernsey financial services institutions.
• He is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce Fraudnet group, which enables teams of lawyers across some 70 jurisdictions to work together.
• He regularly speaks around the world on the subject of corruption, the misuse of offshore structures and related issues most recently at the UNCAC Conference of State Parties in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

Marcus Wide

Throughout his career Marcus ha investigated or liquidated, for the benefit of creditors, most of the major frauds with a Caribbean base.  These include one of the world’s largest criminal frauds in which the principal is serving 110 years in prison.  Marcus has recovered or traced assets into 40 jurisdictions worldwide and given evidence in criminal fraud trials in a number of countries.    Marcus’ vast experience and incredible knowledge in matters of fraud and forensic accounting will reinforce the firm’s ability to work on highly complex multi-jurisdictional fraud matters requiring litigious asset recovery.

Marcus, together with our expert team will continue to work in close cooperation with the firm’s array of business partners around the world to provide strategic advice at the highest level.   Marcus was admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1971 whilst working for Cooper Brothers and, on the recommendation of the Senior Partner, took a transfer to the Canadian firm. He then sought a transfer into the Insolvency group finding a particular interest in that area of practice.

In 1982 Marcus obtained his Trustee in Bankruptcy Licence, and was made a Vice President of the insolvency arm of the firm and in 1984 became a Senior Vice President and Partner.

Marcus had responsibility for Atlantic Canada, and subsequently for oversight of insolvency in the Caribbean.

From early in his career, Marcus became involved in reviewing fraudulent or criminal activity.

Marcus worked with PWC in the Caribbean for 15 years,  investigating and pursuing assets in the area of fraudulently run offshore banks.

After retiring from PWC and his continuing consultancy, Marcus joined Grant Thornton as Managing Director of their BVI office. He won many significant assignments. These included being the principal Joint Liquidator of Stanford International Bank, with book liabilities in excess of U$8 billion and over 20,000 depositors. Investigations and asset tracing have given rise to multiple litigation in a number of jurisdictions not only to recover assets, but to get compensation from persons aiding and abetting the fraud.  Marcus was also Joint Liquidator of CLF Limited, a Trinidadian conglomerate with 29 operating companies and allegations of improper dealings with related parties to investigate and seek recovery of assets or value. Creditors in that matter approximated US$4 billion. A Chilean fraud had a number of BVI companies which in turn controlled property in a number of other jurisdictions as well as property in BVI. Claims in that matter ran to approximately US$120 million.

Key accomplishments include;

• Spent five years working undercover on money laundering cash pick-up operations recovering over $100 million in laundered drug proceeds and assisting in the conviction of dozens of money launderers, including foreign bankers.
• Was a member of the prosecution team for multiple cases arising from theft or misappropriation of Iraq reconstruction funding as directed by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
• Recovered US$120 million in laundered corruption proceeds that were generated by the bribery of Italian judges deciding civil matters that were unjustly favorable to the Rovelli family and cheating Italian banks out of almost US$400 million.
• Helped secure or recover US$100s of millions in fraud proceeds from abroad in the Robert Allen Stanford/Stanford International Limited securities fraud matter.
• Lead the DOJ team responsible for enforcing 50 plus foreign confiscation orders in the United States against US$ 600 to US$ 900million in U.S. assets.

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* This publication is intended for general information purposes only and should not be relied upon as a source of legal advice. Information correct as of April 2020. Independent legal advice should be sought before taking any action based on information contained within this publication.