Nick James

Nick is recognised by the directories as a leading white collar fraud practitioner and is regularly instructed to defend Directors and professional clients.

Nick recently successfully defended a former company director in a Bribery trial brought by the SFO, his client was unanimously acquitted following a 3-month trial, and is instructed to lead in Operation Destin, a highly complex timeshare fraud.

His other notable recent cases include Operation Balaban, a Carbon Credit fraud which collapsed when the Prosecution expert was exposed as unreliable, appearing in the Court of Appeal in a series of appeals arising out of that experts behaviour (R v Byrne [2021] EWCA Crime 107) and representing a Barclays trader convicted of Libor rigging (R v Pabon [2018] EWCA Crim 420).

Chambers UK Financial Crime describes him as ‘…empathetic with clients and impressive in court’ and ‘..courageous and unshakable in his commitment to his clients’.

Legal 500 says ‘On his feet Nick is an extremely skilled advocate, one of very the best at the Bar, who combines meticulous preparation with exceptional client care.’

Notable fraud cases

SFO v NW & Ors (2022-3)

Nick successfully defended a company director charged with bribery and money laundering offences by the SFO. The 15-week trial of three men involved in the corporate fit-out industry concluded with unanimous acquittals on all counts. This was the culmination of an extensive SFO investigation lasting 6 years and generating some 4 million documents. The SFO alleged that bribes had been paid in order to win contracts subject to competitive tender processes. The defence case was that the payments were for leads and that such payments are common in the fit-out industry. The Jury returned not guilty verdicts following less than a day of deliberations.

R v AS & Ors (2022)

Nick defended one of only three defendants to be acquitted in this complex 12-handed money laundering operation. It was alleged that millions of pounds in criminal monies was moved through the UK and Vietnam via a labyrinthine system of bank accounts and businesses. The case featured voluminous financial evidence including some concerning Vietnamese banking law, Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS) and evidence from Forensic Accountants.

R v AH & Ors (2022)

This was a wine investment fraud boiler room fraud where the majority of the money invested was dissipated. Nick defended the former director of one of the companies involved. Cross-examination of the Financial Investigator and Officer in the case exposed flaws in the prosecution case and led to the Conspiracy to Defraud and POCA charges being abandoned.

R v MJ & Ors (2021)

This was a 20 handed Conspiracy to Defraud the Civil Aviation Authority, whereby claims were made under the ATOL scheme following the liquidation of a fraudulent travel agent. Nick’s client’s previous convictions for dishonesty, including Conspiracy to Defraud, were before the jury and he did not give evidence. However, Nick used emails recovered from a computer to show that his client was aware of an investigation by the CAA and that he had not acted dishonestly. He was unanimously acquitted.

R v LC & Ors (2021)

This was a 13 handed multi-million pound MTIC fraud. Nick’s client provided numerous fraudulent documents in order to establish shell companies which acted as buffers or missing traders. Further complexity arose out of an overlap between this case and a previous fraud he had been convicted of. The same companies and identities were used, giving rise to legal arguments as to whether he can be prosecuted for two offences on substantially the same evidence.

R v MdP & Ors (2021)

This was a private prosecution of Italian nationals brought by the American clothing brand Supreme for trademark infringements in Europe and China. The case took place against a background of extensive civil litigation in other jurisdictions which, it was argued, included the promise not to prosecute. It was an extremely complex and high value case, with the defendants alleged to have turned over in excess of £30m almost entirely through fraud.

R v Bryne & Ors (2021)

Nick represented two former company directors in the joined appeal relating to the discredited carbon credit expert Andrew Ager. Each argued that their conviction was unsafe as it was based on Ager’s evidence. Following on from Pabon, this complex appeal raised further issues relating to how expert witnesses are selected and supervised by prosecuting authorities. In an appeal that lasted 3 days, and involved 5 Silks, Nick submitted that Ager did not just fail to comply with his duties, he was a dishonest and biased witness and it brought the justice system into disrepute for the convictions to stand.

R v AH & Ors (2019)

Nick represented the second defendant, a former company director, in this £3m Carbon Credit and Diamond fraud. The trial collapsed when the expert witness who had been advising the Police even before charges were brought was thoroughly discredited and failures to disclose his lack of expertise uncovered.

R v GS (2019)

Nick defended a man alleged to have laundered £500k from a £3m nationwide banking fraud. Individuals and businesses had their emails and bank accounts hacked and diverted to criminal bank accounts. Nick’s client was in control of more than 20 such accounts.

R v MS & Ors (2018)

This was a 13 handed MTIC fraud alleged to have caused a loss to HMRC in excess of £20m. Nick defended the man operating the freight company responsible for arranging the fraudulent loads of copper and diverting them from destinations in Europe to the UK.

R v EE (2018)

US and UK law enforcement combined to trace the hacking of the Orange County employee’s pension scheme to the defendants home in Reading via IP addresses and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. The trial involved expert cyber security evidence on both sides, as the case turned on the reliability of a copy of log files provided by a VPN service in the US who would later refuse to co-operate with the prosecution.

R v Pabon (2018)

Led by Tom Allen QC, Nick appeared in the Court of Appeal for one of the Barclays traders who had been convicted of Libor rigging. The appeal focused on an expert called by the SFO to explain banking, including Libor and STIR, to the Jury. However, it became apparent during the retrial of a co-defendant that the witness was not in fact an expert in those areas and had not complied with his duties as an expert.

R v SH & Ors (2016-17)

Nick defended a company directors in a series of 3 high value fraud trials involving allegations of investment fraud, fraudulent trading and defrauding Natwest bank.

R v MB & Ors (2017)

This was a private prosecution alleging Fraudulent Trading and Theft of £500k of plastic against the directors of a UK company. This was the subject of High Court proceedings and both the Prosecutor and first defendant had been held liable to the claimant company.