Geoffrey Payne

Barrister

Geoff Payne specialises in defending in high value, heavy fraud cases.

He is nothing short of fantastic: a very meticulous operator, he is amazingly hard-working and very good in his written work. Chambers UK

He defends clients in lengthy trials, often of up to six months in duration and involving allegations of fraud of up to hundreds of millions of pounds.

Many involve associated civil and/or regulatory proceedings.

Geoff Payne acts as leading counsel and as a junior alone. In cases of the greatest complexity and with a large volume of evidence, he also acts as a led junior to Queen’s Counsel.

He has experience of every type of serious fraud. He has appeared in cases of alleged banking frauds in the City of London, ‘Ponzi’ frauds (including the largest prosecuted in the UK), film tax credit frauds, boiler room frauds, insurance frauds, long-firm frauds, Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) frauds, ‘sideways loss relief’ frauds, advance fee frauds, dishonest contra-trading and frauds in the construction sector.

He has appeared in cases prosecuted by every major prosecuting agency including the Serious Fraud Office, Revenue and Customs, Crown Prosecution Service and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

He has represented City traders, accountants and insolvency practitioners.

He has successfully dealt with a large number of confiscation cases and has a particular expertise in appearing for interested parties in confiscation and enforcement proceedings both in the Crown Court and High Court.

He has advised in relation to cases involving multiple jurisdictions and regularly appears in the Court of Appeal.

He has also acted for defendants accused of corruption and misconduct in public office in areas such as the police and the Ministry of Defence.

Geoff Payne’s practice also encompasses cases of heavy crime, such as those involving allegations of murder and high value drugs importations.

Appointments

Recorder, 2018 (crime, serious sexual offences, civil)
Legally Qualified Chair of Medical Practitioners Tribunal, hearing cases brought by the General Medical Council about the fitness to practice of doctors
Legally Qualified Chair (part-time) of Police Misconduct Tribunals held under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012

Associated Work & Articles

Blog author for UK Finance, LexisNexis and Practical law (see for example, https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/check-your-privilege/ and https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/will-internal-investigations-stay-internal/)
Regular media commentator on law, politics and criminal justice policy,
Former elected Member of the Bar Council,
Member of the Bar Council Remuneration Committee,
Member of the National Association of Legally Qualified Chairs in Police Discipline.

Professional Memberships

Former Treasurer and later Chair of the Young Fraud Lawyers Association
Criminal Bar Association
Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association (POCLA)
Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)
Fraud Lawyers Association (FLA)
Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA)

Education

1994-1997, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Modern History
1999-2000, City University, London, Common Professional Examination in Law
2000-2001, Inns of Court School of Law, London, Bar Vocational Course

R v M & Others (Operation Kraken) - Representing a defendant on allegations of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation in relation to immigration language tests. The case was the subject of a Panorama programme in 2014. Listed for trial in 2020.
R v C & Others (Operation Discan) - Representing the sometime Money Laundering Reporting Officer of a Money Services Bureau through which £11.75m was allegedly laundered. After the first trial was aborted in respect of some of the defendants, the prosecution offered no evidence.
R v C & Others - Representing a defendant alleged to have been involved in a fraud involving the systematic and unlawful dumping of waste. As a result of disclosure requests and cross-case analysis undertaken by the defence, the prosecution conceded that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction and no evidence was offered.
R v B & Others (Operation Lithium) - Representing, as leading counsel, an employee of a company alleged to have been involved in a large-scale Value Added Tax fraud. Originally listed for trial for several months in 2019 but the prosecution was forced into offering no evidence.
R v B & Others (Operation Uzana) - Representing a defendant as leading counsel in a case concerning an alleged high-value and complex fraud in a care home. The trial lasted over a year. This case is likely to become the leading case on dishonesty in the criminal law.
R v M & Others (Operation Twilight) - Representing a defendant in a multi-handed allegation of Cheating the Revenue arising out of an alleged scheme to evade tax through the vehicle of loss-making film projects; case successfully stayed as an abuse of the process of the court.
R v B & Others (Operation Dinghy) - Representing a defendant, as leading counsel, in an alleged fraud in relation to the sale of fine wine, through two wine brokerage companies, with alleged losses of almost £1 million.
R v U & Others (Operation Greenyards) - Representing the first of four defendants as junior counsel in a case concerning allegations of extremely complex and high-value banking frauds. The allegation was that the defendants conspired to defraud well-known banking institutions, including a Russian bank, of up to $260 million. The trial exceeded three months in duration.
R v M & Others (Operation Mesopotamia) - Representing a director of a company that operated a recycling facility on allegations of fraud by the Environment Agency in relation to the issue of Producer Responsibility Notes.
R v S & Others (Operation Bitterling 2) - Representing a company director in relation to allegations of Value Added Tax evasion.
R v N & Others (Operation Tarlac) - Representing a defendant in an alleged £12.5 million diversion fraud involving NHS Trusts, Local Authorities, the States of Guernsey and educational establishments.
R v M & Others (Operation Ward) - Representing a defendant in an alleged £2.5 million ‘Ponzi’ fraud concerning the sale of carbon credits. The defendant was acquitted by the jury.
Re. X & X - Successfully advising suspects pre-charge in relation to an alleged diversion fraud and an action before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
Re. R - Representing an interested third party in enforcement proceedings that were heard over a week in 2015 and which related to a property that was the subject of an unpaid Confiscation Order.
Re. W, Queen’s Bench Division, High Court - Representing an interested third party in confiscation enforcement proceedings, taken in 2014-5, and concerning a property.
R v R & Others (Operation Lift) - Representing an accountant, one of the leading defendants, in an alleged £34 million money-laundering arrangement.
R v M & Others (Operation Chainmail/Operation Crystallite) - Representing a defendant in a thirteen handed allegation of Cheating the Revenue arising out of an alleged scheme to evade £2.25 million tax by manufacturing losses on the part of Limited Liability Partnerships created to develop film projects. The client was acquitted in the first of the sequence of trials in summer 2015 and the prosecution elected not to proceed against her in the second.
R v S & Others (Operation Heterodon) - Representing a defendant who is alleged to be the mastermind in a £22 million arrangement to launder the proceeds of crime.
R v J & Others (Operation Vaulter) - Representing the patriarch of an alleged criminal family in a large Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud with alleged losses running to in excess of hundreds of millions of pounds.
R v M & Others (Operation Barber) - Representing one of the main defendants, a professional accountant and insolvency practitioner, in a twelve-handed alleged long firm fraud which is said to have taken place over seven years and caused losses in excess of £4.5 million.
R v C & Others (Operation Grassland) - Representing an accountant in a long-running and extensive tax evasion fraud with potential losses of in excess of £4 million.
R v A and Others (Operation Finetune) - Representing the main defendant in one of the first cases of Film Tax Credit fraud prosecuted.
R v Peacock and Others (Operation Daybreak) - acted as junior on behalf of a defendant in a £115 million 'Ponzi' fraud, the largest such fraud ever prosecuted. Secured acquittals on counts of fraud and recklessly making a false or misleading statement to investors; the only conviction was for a regulatory matter. The case generated national coverage in both the print and broadcast media.
R v F & Others (Operation Rosary) - Represented the Managing Director of an alleged exporting company in a Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud.
R v K & Others (Operation Vex) - Instructed on behalf of the Company Secretary an alleged freight forwarder in a large Missing Trader-Community Fraud. The prosecution eventually offered no evidence against this defendant.
R v Assadigohar & Others - Successfully defended a client accused of perverting the course of justice arising out of an insurance fraud.
R v Randhawa & Others (Operation Duma) - Represented a company director in a trial lasting almost six months which concerned allegations of carousel trading. Represented the defendant in the Court of Appeal in what has become the reported case of Randhawa [2012] EWCA Crim 1.
R v Phillips & Others (Operation Digits) - Represented a company director in an alleged VAT and payroll fraud concerning the construction industry. Represented the defendant in the Court of Appeal in what became the reported case of Phillips [2011] EWCA Crim 2935.
R v Halliday & Others; R v Apabhai and Others (Operation Euripus) - Represented two defendants in sequential trials of what was the largest Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud case ever prosecuted. Acted alone in subsequent proceedings in the Court of Appeal for the latter client. The case is reported as Apabhai [2011] EWCA Crim 917.
R v Drewery & Others (Operation Gnawed) - Represented the alleged operator of a missing trader company; mounted an abuse of process argument that led to the case being stayed.
R v Matthews & Others (Operation Shoot) - Represented a director accused of dealing with missing trades in a £50 million carousel fraud, both at the original trial and the re-trial.
R v Selby (Operation Itches) - Represented a director of a European company trading in what was alleged to be a Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud. Acted for the same defendant in High Court proceedings arising out of an alleged breach of Restraint Order; he was acquitted of most charges.
R v Martin & Others (Operation Corsair) - Represented a director of a loan company that was allegedly being used as the vehicle for a multi-million pound advance fee fraud involving what was said to be a dishonest Cypriot bank and companies in the British Virgin Islands. Prosecution forced to offer no evidence.
R v Fowler & Others - Represented former employee of Ministry of Defence on corruption and fraud allegations. The indictment case was stayed on grounds of abuse of process.
R v Day & Others (Operation Ginseng) - Represented a sole trader in £22 million carousel fraud; the prosecution was eventually forced to offer no evidence.
R v Deb & Others - Represented one of the defendants in a credit card cloning fraud; negotiated a favourable basis of plea with the prosecution.
R v Corkhill (Operation Daring) - Represented a single defendant in a Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud comprising losses of £35 million.

Proceeds of Crime Act

R v Okedare, Court of Appeal, 2014 - Secured quashing of Confiscation Order made in absence under the wrong section of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
R v R - Representing a third party seeking to resist the enforcement of a Confiscation Order
R v S & Others - Representing the defendant in confiscation proceedings with a strong international dimension, securing a nil confiscation order.
R v Selby (Operation Itches) - Dealt with the confiscation proceedings and obtained a favourable outcome; dealt also with successive (and eventually successful) arguments concerning the obtaining of a Certificate of Inadequacy
R v Deb & Others - Dealt with the confiscation proceedings.

Reported Cases

Barton and Booth [2020] EWCA Crim 575 - now the leading authority on dishonesty in criminal law, this case, which was heard by a five-judge court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice, overturned a test of 35 years standing and replaced it with the formation used in civil law; it also involved a detailed consideration of the doctrine of precedent and the ambit of the offence of conspiracy to defraud.
Okedare, [2014] EWCA Crim 228, [2014] EWCA Crim 1173 - Represented the only appellant to get leave to appeal in the leading case on absconded appellants; secured the quashing of a Confiscation Order in the substantive proceedings.
Phillips [2011] EWCA Crim 2935 - a significant case in relation to the admissibility of bad character evidence as between co-defendants.
Randhawa [2012] EWCA Crim 1 - The appeal concerned Restraint Orders, the privilege against self-incrimination and the desirability of new standard terms in such orders.

R v S & Others (Operation Pageant) - Representing a defendant charged with murder following a shooting.
R v B & Others - Successfully representing a defendant charged with aggravated burglary and robbery involving an imitation firearm.
R v Mussa and Others (Operation Legacy) - Represented the alleged ringleader in a six week alleged conspiracy to supply large quantities of Class A drugs from Liverpool into Lancashire.
R v Knaggs & Others (Operation Dearly) - Represented the first defendant as junior in a six-handed conspiracy investigated by the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It was alleged that the defendants conspired to import up to five tonnes of cocaine from South America to the United Kingdom in a number of separate enterprises. This was the largest conspiracy to import cocaine that the country had seen at the time. The trial lasted six months.
R v Srebro & Others (Operation Caroche) - Represented the ring leader in an international cannabis smuggling organisation. Cannabis was smuggled into Southampton on a tugboat. Case made the national media.
R v W & Others (Operation Castorland) - Twenty-one handed gang-related murder comprising exclusively young defendants. The case was reported extensively and the trial lasted some three months.
R v W & Others - Secured the half time acquittal of a youth being tried with two others of a gang-related offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
R v Hannigan & Others (Operation Tibet) - Police corruption conspiracy involving information obtained from the Police National Computer. Matter went to re-trial.
R v Fowler - Alleged corruption in the Ministry of Defence involving allegedly dishonest procurement processes. Defence team successfully secured a stay after a three day abuse of process application on the grounds of non-disclosure and delay. Had the trial proceeded, it would have lasted three months.
R v Gabbidon - Leading counsel for a sole defendant facing allegations of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent (originally attempted murder) and dangerous driving. Defendant was acquitted after a three and a half week trial.
R v Rember - Organised armed robberies of jewellers involving losses of several hundred thousand pounds worth of stock.

Reported Cases

Phillips [2011] EWCA Crim 2935 - The appeal concerned the test for the admissibility of bad character evidence at the instigation of a co-defendant where cut-throat defences were run. The trial judge was found to have made two errors in the application of the relevant law.

Re. D.I. John Redgrave (Police Disciplinary Tribunal and Home Office Appeals Tribunal) - Appeared during several of the appeals of what has been the longest running police discipline case on record.
Chaired disciplinary committees concerning staff discipline and pupil exclusion in a large secondary school in London.
Re. G - Successful action for judicial review which resulted in the quashing of a caution in the name of a lawyer on the basis of procedural unfairness.
Re. O - Judicial review of the issuing of a warrant of commitment by the court in respect of an unpaid Confiscation Order
Re. S - Successful judicial review which resulted in the quashing, by consent, of a defective search warrant.