On 6 July 2021, judgment was handed down sealing victory for our clients in what has been a long and drawn-out legal battle against an individual who sought to defraud them causing loss of over £1m. The judgment confirms that the Defendant was “…wilfully and deliberately dishonest.” In this second article we discuss how we were able to unravel the fraud and construct a successful claim for fraudulent misrepresentation…
On 6 July 2021, judgment was handed down sealing victory for our clients in what has been a long and drawn-out legal battle against an individual who sought to defraud them causing loss of over £1m. The judgment confirms that the Defendant was “…wilfully and deliberately dishonest.” In the first of two articles discussing the case, we assess how the Defendant committed an almost perfect fraud…
Tenet has recently achieved success for its clients in the Central London County Court in respect of a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation against the authors of a highly inflated valuation of a well-known business coaching company, in which our clients were persuaded to invest.
Over the coming weeks we will be publishing a two-part article discussing this case in more detail as it was a well-planned approach by the defendants to distance themselves from responsibility whilst also creating a number of other commercial and practical factors in the way of the claimants. Our two-part article shall also look at the lessons which can be taken from it to try and help people avoid being caught by a similar situation.
However, in the meantime, we are keen to share our success and that of our clients, for which this has been a long and drawn-out battle for justice.
On 23rd June 2021, it was World Whistleblowing Day. There is much to celebrate with a noticeable shift in global attitudes towards whistleblowing and those who lift the lid on criminal or unethical conduct thanks to movements such as the #MeToo movement. However, in an online poll conducted by Tenet Compliance & Litigation, an incredible 93% of respondents stated that they still thought becoming a whistleblower would impact their career. So, what is it about whistleblowing that makes people so fearful?
There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to ways to argue and seek the Court’s assistance in fraud claims. This is largely due to the fact that the umbrella term “fraud” covers a wide variety of possible causes of action and different remedies available depending upon the nature of the claim itself. This broad menu of both causes of action and remedies allows the courts to be flexible in terms of the way that fraud is dealt with.
Indeed, where there is a pleading of fraud there is often a greater scope for recoverable damages and the courts may take a more expansive approach to loss. Two recent cases provide clarity on common remedies in fraud, namely damages for fraudulent misrepresentation and an account of profits.
Historically, where a claimant pleaded fraud, they were not entitled to make an application for summary judgment. The reason for this so called “fraud exception” was that due to the serious nature of the allegations and consequences of such, it would be inappropriate for such matters to be determined at an interim stage without defendants being afforded the opportunity to fully explore the issues at trial. This exception was abolished in England and Wales in 1992, and yet it has remained difficult to meet the threshold for summary judgment in fraud cases.
We’ve all heard of Bitcoin, but for a long time the concept of a “cryptocurrency” seemed to belong to another world, the online world, and was something far removed from day-to-day life. In recent years, cryptocurrencies have crept further and further into the real world with Mastercard announcing plans to support cryptocurrency payments on its network this year, and a number of traditional banks planning to welcome Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, eventually treating them like any other asset.
The Court of Appeal has recently upheld an appeal by HSBC against a High Court ruling which refused to strike out a claim against it for breach of its Quincecare duty when it unwittingly got caught up in a Ponzi scheme. The decision limits the scope of the Quincecare duty and will be welcomed by financial institutions.
In the recent case of Valbonne Estates Limited v (1) Cityvalue Estates Limited (2) United Homes Limited [2021] EWHC 544 (Ch), Mrs Justice Bacon discharged a pre-action injunction that had been obtained on a without notice basis, on grounds that the injunction had been obtained with misleading evidence.
Tenet Compliance & Litigation is delighted to have teamed up with RICS in writing content for their isurv online library covering a range of subjects about property fraud in the commercial property sector. We produced about 12,000 words of content to help their members who use this service prevent and respond to fraud. They have approx. 140,000 members across over 140 countries.