Fraud and financial crime

Cases

As his chambers describes them.

1. Operation Ramsey2026Before the court

   £69 million duty fraud. Trial listed for four months.

2. Operation Finglas2019

   Large scale tachograph fraud and associated money laundering. Successful submission of no case to answer, all other defendants convicted.

3. Operation Baumea2018

   Fraud by the systematic abuse of sham companies set up with the sole intention of obtaining hundreds of thousands of pounds in credit. Case dropped following comprehensive and targeted disclosure request.

4. Operation Good2018

   Sophisticated multi-defendant immigration conspiracy. Defence deriving from the Modern Slavery Act advanced.

5. Operation Orcanet2018

   Large scale importation and supply of counterfeit designer clothing.

6. Operation Warbird2018

   Immigration facilitation utilising sham colleges and issuing CAS. Three month trial.

7. Operation Bellman2017

   Multi-defendant immigration fraud by the facilitation of cheating on an industrial scale in college exams. Following four weeks of evidence a successful submission of no case to answer was upheld. The subsequent prosecution appeal was dismissed and the resultant judgment is now a key authority on immigration facilitation.

8. Operation New Orleans2017

   Fraudulent evasion of duty on over a million pounds of cigarettes. Defendant acquitted following a four-week trial.

9. R v JT2017

   Fraud by breach of trust and false accounting over many years by employee of a multi-national company. Successful application to dismiss.

10. Operation Drake2016

    Multi-faceted property fraud, trial listed for three months and hundreds of complainants identified.

11. Operation Highbank2016

    Represented lead defendant of ten in this ebay/paypal fraud with a value over a million pounds. Two-month trial.

12. Operation Nevdon2016

    Represented senior partner of large solicitors practice charged with fraud on the legal aid agency. Three-month trial.

13. Operation Dastardly2015

    Fraudulent importation of 4.5 million cigarettes. Indictment successfully stayed on day four of trial following targeted disclosure requests.

14. Operation Mask2015

    Defendant one of ten accused of defrauding a wealthy and vulnerable widow of half a million pounds in bogus care costs. Case against this defendant dropped.

15. Operation Kenyeti2013

    Represented the lead defendant of ten in this conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration, money laundering and mortgage fraud. The trial lasted six months.

16. Operation Kingfisher2013

    Prosecuted five defendants charged with a multi-million housing benefit fraud, money laundering and multi-million mortgage fraud. All defendants (including a pharmacist) convicted.

17. Operation Korab/Razorback faciliation conspiracy2012

    Twenty one-defendant international immigration facilitation conspiracy.

18. R v Doctor WM2012

    Protracted and systematic fraud on the NHS by a dentist. Four-week trial.

19. Operation Colon2010

    Nine-defendant conspiracy to defraud. Selling bogus person injury claims to solicitors firms.

20. Operation Contact 72010

    Nine-defendant conspiracy to defraud, ‘cash for crash’.

21. Operation Dram2010

    Five-defendant construction fraud, hundreds of complainants. Defendant acquitted following a four-month trial.

22. Operation Fern2010

    Six defendant multi-million mortgage fraud. Defendant acquitted following a six-week trial.

23. Operation Fordingbridge2010

    Conspiracy to handle stolen and counterfeit electronic goods in huge quantities. Five family member charged following discovery of an ‘Aladdin’s’ cave of stolen goods. This defendant was the only one to be acquitted.

24. R v Mina and others2009

    Ten-defendant ebay fraud. Defendant acquitted following six-week trial.

25. R v Butt and others2001

    Multi-million post office fraud.

Taken from the case list his chambers publishes. Not all of the cases Imran Shafi KC has been involved in are set out on this site, for various reasons including confidentiality.

What Imran does about it

He makes the disclosure requests that change the shape of the case, and takes the half-time submission when the prosecution case does not reach the jury. Several of his fraud cases have ended that way.

His experience in these cases

Imran Shafi KC is a leading Barrister in complex fraud and financial crime litigation, recognised for his command of intricate financial evidence and his ability to distil the most challenging cases into easily understandable propositions which are then addressed with equally easily understandable explanations.

Completely comfortable with accounts, banking records, company structures and transactional data, he is able to analyse and present complex financial information with clarity and precision. His ease with figures enables him to identify the key financial patterns, movements and anomalies that often determine the outcome of a case.

In substantial fraud prosecutions, where disclosure frequently runs to hundreds of thousands of pages, Imran is particularly adept at cutting through voluminous material to identify the real issues, separating what matters from what does not and ensuring that investigations remain focused on the evidence of genuine significance.

He is highly experienced in identifying lines of enquiry that have not been pursued and material that ought properly to be sought by way of disclosure, often uncovering evidential weaknesses and opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked.

Imran works closely with forensic accountants, financial investigators and other specialists, combining rigorous legal analysis with expert financial insight. His collaborative approach ensures that complex financial evidence is challenged, tested and presented with maximum effectiveness, thus securing the best possible outcome and preserving the client’s assets.

Regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Authorised to accept Public Access instructions. Not authorised to conduct litigation.