Robert Rinder

Business Crime & Financial Services

Since 2010, and whilst maintaining his UK practice, Robert has been instructed by HM Government as counsel to the Turks and Caicos Islands’ Special Investigation and Prosecution Team, established by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to prosecute allegations of bribery, international corruption and fraud. Offences which, it is alleged, were committed by former members of the TCI’s legislature and also by corporate defendants. The investigation has resulted in the suspension of the TCI’s Constitution and the imposition of direct rule from London.

As part of his work in the TCI, and adding to his existing criminal fraud experience, Robert has also handled a range of civil fraud and other regulatory issues by:

• Negotiating terms, drafting agreements and cross-border confidentiality clauses as part of advising on US$ multi-million civil settlements in lieu of criminal proceedings;
• Acting as the TCI Special Prosecutor’s Director of Restraint, which requires scrutiny and monitoring of the global asset portfolios of suspects, as well as advising on litigation against MLROs from local and international banks;
• Leading joint investigations by US and European agencies, and liaising with the US DoJ and Eurojust in The Hague;
• Conducting international asset tracing and recovery, under both UK and TCI proceeds of crime legislation, and;
• Drafting, in the absence of local legislation, policy documents governing third-party disclosure, and search and seizure orders, as well as advising the Special Prosecutor on relevant amendments to primary legislation.

His work in the TCI has also given him experience of extradition, particularly as it affects cases involving financial wrongdoing. He has advised the UK Attorney General on his extradition obligations, has drafted international Letters of Request, and has advised on other issues of multi-national co-operation.

Robert has extensive experience of the team work required to manage large-scale fraud cases. He has worked with senior financial investigators and police officers, including supervising their applications for financial production orders, and has led teams of junior lawyers involved in reviewing and managing material uncovered as part of the investigation.

In the UK he has advised on and appeared in cases involving fraud on the NHS, counterfeit medicines, £multi-million money laundering, and pension fraud.