Fraud and Drugs Case Victory | Isleworth Crown Court
Kangs Solicitors represented the client in this matter who was originally facing allegations of Conspiracy to Cheat the Revenue, Conspiracy to Supply Class B and Conspiracy to Supply Class A x 2. It was alleged that over a four year period together with his co-defendants he abused the Freight Clearance (ERTS) facility in order to bring in contraband and drugs into the UK under the cover of fresh fruit and vegetable on an industrial scale. The defendant was a director of a freight clearance company in the Heathrow area of London.
The case was originally a joint Revenue and Customs and UKBA investigation. As a result of early bail variation applications the Crown were forced to charge the client much earlier than they had originally planned. This was a forced decision that they never recovered from. The first trial stopped after 79 days.
An application was made to dismiss one of the Class A counts and severe the rest of the case before trial 2. This application was successful. The client was acquitted of Conspiracy to Supply class B drugs in trial 2.
At the beginning of trial 3 the Crown disclosed further material which we had been requesting 2 years earlier having served a detailed defence statement prior to the first trial. As a result of this late disclosure and an application was made to stay the case as an Abuse of Process. This was successful.
The client was acquitted of the remaining count.
The case involved the detailed analysis of freight clearance procedures both nationally and internationally. Detailed disclosure requests were continually made which ultimately led to this fine result.
Counsel in the case was Anthony Orchard QC from Carmelite Chambers and Matthew Sherratt also from Carmelite Chambers.
The case was conducted by Zahir Ahmed of Kangs Solicitors.
Should you require any representation regarding a similar matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
