British investigators will pay Kazakhstan’s ENRC for violations during the investigation
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London High Court decided, that the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) committed violations in the process of inspections against the Kazakh mining company ENRC. Because of this, the company was subject to a multi-year investigation that ended in nothing, resulting in “unnecessary” work for the company’s employees, as well as expenses. The High Court ruled that SFO must pay ENRC compensation, the amount of which has not yet been determined.
SFO investigation into the company began back in 2013. It was based on information obtained by Neil Gerrard, a partner at the London law firm Dechert, who had previously been hired by ENRC to conduct an internal investigation. Based on this information, the company was suspected of fraud, corruption and bribery. However, in August of this year the investigation was discontinued. The department said at the time that “there is insufficient evidence that could be used in court to prosecute.”
Now the court has decided that the SFO should not have received information from Mr Gerrard because he was a lawyer for ENRC and could not provide information related to his client. The fact that the regulator launched an investigation based on this information led to costs and wasted time for the company’s employees. Neil Gerrard and Dechert also, according to the court’s decision, must pay compensation to the Kazakh company.
The SFO said it was disappointed by the court’s decision, especially since it concerns actions by the regulator’s employees that occurred more than ten years ago. Lawyer Michael Roberts, from law firm Hogan Lovells, which is representing ENRC, said that “today’s decision is a testament to ENRC’s determination to restore its reputation.” “This landmark decision sends a clear message that law enforcement agencies’ use of attorneys as undercover informants for their clients is illegal and should not be tolerated,” he said.
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