David Whittaker KC

Business Crime & Financial Services

Significant and complex fraud cases have always formed a substantial part of David’s practice. He has extensive experience of most forms of white-collar work and is often instructed to defend in SFO and FCA prosecutions.

David has appeared in many serious fraud cases, including MTIC fraud, tax fraud, insider trading, advance fee fraud, mortgage fraud and fraudulent trading. He was instructed in the largest insider trading fraud prosecuted by the FCA (R v Dodgson & ors) and one of the largest land-banking frauds (R v Crawley & ors). He has also appeared in many cases of money laundering and has considerable experience of ancillary proceedings, including asset forfeiture, restraint and confiscation.

David is also instructed in financial private prosecutions and advises companies with regard to business crime, in particular bribery and corruption.

Cases

Anna Machkevitch v SFO

DWKC and Gabriele Watts represented AM, the daughter of one of the founding partners of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (“ENRC”). In January 2020 she was convicted of failing to comply with a notice to produce documents to the SFO under section 2(3) Criminal Justice Act 1987. Her case was intrinsically linked to the SFO’s criminal investigation of ENRC and, following the conviction, we kept abreast of the civil proceedings brought by ENRC against the SFO and their solicitors, Dechert LLP and a partner in Dechert, Neil Gerrard. Following judgments in the High Court, where the SFO were subject to considerable criticism, discussions were launched with the SFO and an appeal lodged against AM’s 2020 conviction. Ultimately, the SFO agreed that the appeal was being pursued on forceful grounds and they offered no evidence.

RL

DWKC represented RL, a surveyor at a large construction company, who was charged with fraud on an indictment that also contained charges of bribery against the company and a director. At trial, in July 2024, the prosecution accepted pleas of guilty from the company and director and offered no evidence against RL who was therefore acquitted.

R v MS

Instructed to represent MS, a consultant surgeon, who has been charged with fraud (from insurance companies funding private operations), forgery and sending a malicious communication. Case ongoing.

R v DG

Instructed to represent DG who has been charged with 2 cases of laundering the proceeds of fraud involving multiple companies and over £30 million. Case ongoing.

LB v MB

Instructed pre-charge to advise and commence proceedings for an individual who was defrauded of nearly €1 million by a broker and financial intermediary. Case ongoing.

R v MK

MK was charged with laundering the proceeds of her partner’s alleged fraud whilst he was working at the Commonwealth Secretariat and a leading firm of London solicitors. Following the submission of a dismissal application and skeleton argument the prosecution offered no evidence.

SFO v AM

AM was only the second individual to be charged and tried for her failure, under section 2(13) Criminal Justice Act 1987 (CJA), to comply with a notice in writing from the Serious Fraud Office, under section 2(3) CJA, to produce documents, those documents relating to the SFO investigation into Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (ENRC). Although convicted of the charge (having failed to establish a reasonable excuse) she was sentenced to a fine of only £800.

R v Javid Limbada

Represented the Head of International Business Development at a London-based finance company who was tried for his part in a £25 million excise fraud at Southwark Crown Court in 2019. The defendant had denied any illegitimate involvement in the fraudulent scheme and said that he was recruited for his longstanding legitimate business experience. He was acquitted on all of the six charges that he faced.

R v Terence Green

TG was charged with two counts of money laundering relating to €45,600 found in his car and a further €420,000 and $10,000 found in various locations at his home address. TG successfully argued that the money was on part property intended for his daughter’s bureau de change located in central London and in part his own money derived from a number of successful property transactions.

In a separate case, TG’s wife was acquitted of property fraud.

PD v NB & HB

Instructed as the private prosecutor in the prosecution of two defendants for fraud of £16.5 million. Obtained a restraint order ex parte against one of the defendants who lives overseas and successfully resisted an inter partes application to discharge that order.

R v Nickson

Represented a leading clinical negligence solicitor with fraud on two of his clients who had suffered life-changing injuries following treatment by the NHS.

Operation Dorothy

Represented a Swedish businessman charged with fraud of $4 million.

Operation Tabernula

IP was a well-known London trader who faced charges of insider dealing, having allegedly conspired with an employee of Deutsche Bank.

Operation Cotton

Leading junior representing defendant on a charge of conspiracy to defraud in respect of the largest land banking scheme brought by the FSA.

R v West & Others

Leading junior representing a company director charged by the SFO with fraud by misrepresentation, fraudulent trading, furnishing false information and 3 counts of bribery.

R v NG & Others

Leading junior representing the chief engineer in a telecommunications company charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Operation Kyrenia

Represented a clinical perfusionist charged with conspiracy to defraud the Basildon and Thurrock University NHS Foundation Trust by failing to deliver his contracted hours in order that he could maximise his income from private practice.

R v Murray & Others

Leading junior representing a company director charged with conspiracy to defraud in respect of a multi-million pound MTIC fraud.

R v Yorkshire

Leading junior in a high yield investment fraud where three losers were seduced into parting with, respectively, $1 million, 10 million Euro and £11.9 million.