Bark&co

Principal: Giles Bark-Jones

Number of partners: 1

Number of lawyers: 30

Languages:English, Armenian, Farsi, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu

Firm Overview

Bark&co is one of the UK’s most progressive and successful fraud and business crime firms. It handles civil and criminal fraud, business and tax regulation, tax investigations, white-collar crime, bribery and corruption, and serious crime cases for high-net-worth individuals, as well as national and international companies. The firm has a flexible approach, tailoring its advice to meet each client’s individual needs. Its commitment to quality and discretion is widely recognised and generates significant referrals from satisfied clients. The firm also appreciates the importance of working with specialists to create robust PR and media management plans.

Financial Crime:

Bark&co acts in wide-ranging white-collar crime and fraud cases, including prosecutions and investigations brought by the SFO, the FCA, HMRC, the NCA, the CPS and other prosecuting bodies. A leader in heavyweight criminal fraud work of all kinds, Bark&co’s advice is increasingly also sought in major civil fraud cases. The firm has helped clients in connection with many high-profile prosecutions, and isone of the most active firms in the market in relation to FCA matters.Its expertise spans insider dealing/financial trading offences; money laundering; tax, mortgage, internet and pension fraud; bribery & corruption; theft; and fraudulent trading by company directors.Dedicated teams also assist in relation to confiscation and restraint proceedings.

The firm’s track record includes acting for individuals in many of the largest and most important frauds of recent years, such as the Cheney Pension fraud; the high-profile Asil Nadir case (including acting for Ersin Tatar in connection thereto); the US$1bn BAE Systems corruption claims; the Adoboli case; and Marrache & Co.

The firm also acted for acted for a defendant in the SFO prosecution following the Libor scandal; represented key individuals in the high-profile SFO investigations into alleged corruption at Rolls-Royce; and acted inthe major carbon trading fraud caseR v F & Others. Its more recent caseload includes acting for Boris Becker in relation to criminal charges brought by the Insolvency Service following his bankruptcy; winning, in 2022, a landmark victory in the Supreme Court for a HNW client concerning the extent to which suspects of crime are entitled to privacy;and acting for a former employee of Glencore Energy UK Limited following the conclusion of the SFO’s landmark investigation.

Tax:

The experienced tax team at Bark&co is equipped to deal with wide-ranging of cases and to respond quickly to HMRC interventions, seizures and searches. It also represents clients in tax investigations and enquiries, handling negotiations with HMRC on their behalf. The leading criminal team also regularly acts in high-end cases involving tax evasion, and also allegations of VAT/ MTIC fraud.

Much of this work is highly confidential, but the firm’s track record includes representing Dominic Chappell in relation to his prosecution for various counts of tax fraud arising from his takeover of BHS from Sir Philip Green; assisting a client in relation to NCA and SKAT investigations into a £1.5bn multi-jurisdictional tax fraud; and acting for one of multiple individuals charged in relation to an alleged alcohol diversion fraud operated on a massive scale in 2009 and 2010. The firm’s record also includes acting in relation to an £800m international tax fraud; and assisting a client in a £108m case arising out of Operation Amazon, reportedas ‘one of the biggest direct tax frauds in UK history’.

General Crime:

Bark&co regularly acts for clients in large, high-profile criminal cases, following arrests for murder, money laundering, drugs importation, sexual offences and people smuggling. The firm focuses on high-end work, much of it with an international dimension. Bark&co is also active in the fast-growing area of cyber crime, and advises individuals and companies facing investigations or criminal proceedings (including manslaughter charges) as a result of health and safety and environmental breaches. The specialist team carefully guides clients through all stages of criminal proceedings from pre-charge interviews through to trial and, where appropriate, appeal.

Bark&co has an impressive track record of representing clients in complex criminal matters. These have included theNews of the World‘phone hacking’ prosecution and subsequent computer hacking investigations; the Melanie Hall historical murder case; the Clerkenwell ‘crime syndicate’ case; the Operation Yewtree sexual offences investigation; the landmark Agnes Taylor case, involving torture offences dating back to the Liberian civil war and the largest criminal case of its time; and the UK’s largest ever burglary case.

Further recent highlights have included securing the acquittal of a client of one of two conspiracies to murder, on allegations that the client had been engaged by a co-defendant to commit contract killings on behalf of a gang leader; securing an acquittal in a multi-defendant ‘county lines’ drugs and modern slavery case; andacting for a high-profile individual under investigation for alleged historic sexual offences – as well as assisting clients in international drugs supply, trafficking, firearms, theft and terrorism matters. While the firm is well known for its discretion, Bark&co’s services are also sought after in cutting-edge matters in the public eye.