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 has particular expertise in matters concerning the freezing, detention and forfeiture of cash and bank accounts. 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 financial crime. He has acted as junior counsel and disclosure counsel in 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 misconduct within corporations, and regularly appears for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers in proceedings concerning breach 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 before tribunals and the High Court. 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. He is a Level 2 prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Proceeds of Crime
Operation R: Acting for the Police in multiple linked proceedings arising from an investigation of the misuse of care homes for money laundering.
Operation S: Acting for the Police in forfeiture proceedings against money service businesses alleged to hold over £500,000 of funds 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 real estate 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: Represented an international cash management service from which some £350,000 has been seized. HMRC released the money in its entirety following representations made by Christopher.
HMRC v YY: Secured the release of £5,500 cash seized 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 the defendant.
Corporate Investigations and Fraud
HMRC v X: Currently instructed to defend a professional being prosecuted for cheating the revenue.
Internal investigation: Worked with a senior member of Chambers on a sensitive investigation of sexual misconduct within a corporation.
FCA v Barreto & Hussain: Junior counsel for the FCA in the prosecution of mortgage fraud and regulatory breaches under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FCA).
Operation D: Disclosure counsel for the FCA in the prosecution of directors for fraud leading to the collapse of a credit union.
Grenfell Inquiry: Part of the team representing the interests of a corporation under investigation.
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.
CLC v NM: Acting for the CLC in proceedings against a practitioner alleged to have facilitated the dissipation of £100,000 of client funds.
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
- Criminal Bar Association