Cases Civil Fraud & Asset Recovery
Judgment Date: 19 Oct 2020
The Isle of Man’s Staff of Government Division has allowed an appeal and made a disclosure order against a non-cause of action defendant to a freezing order and interveners who were contending that a freezing order should be discharged. In doing so, the Court affirmed the flexibility of the jurisdiction to make ancillary orders to support freezing relief. This is an important case for showing that common law courts are able and willing to order disclosure of documents prior to a discharge hearing of freezing injunctions in appropriate cases.
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Judgment Date: 05 Feb 2020
Thomas Grant QC and Ryan Turner have successfully resisted an application to strike out claims in fraudulent misrepresentation and unlawful means conspiracy on the basis that the proceedings were an abuse of process in a Henderson v Henderson sense.
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Judgment Date: 25 Oct 2017
The subjective element of the test for dishonesty in R. v Ghosh (Deb Baran) [1982] Q.B. 1053 did not correctly represent the law and directions based on it should no longer be given. When dishonesty was in question, the fact-finding tribunal had first to ascertain the actual state of the individual's knowledge or belief as to the facts. The question whether the conduct was honest or dishonest was then to be determined by applying the objective standards of ordinary decent people.
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Judgment Date: 31 Jan 2017
Certain amendments to particulars of claim were allowed where they did not distort and extend the trial. The amendments related to evidence that had arisen from German trades that were part of alleged VAT fraud involving the sale and purchase of European Union allowances under the European Emission Trading Scheme.
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Judgment Date: 08 Nov 2016
The court granted two defendants summary judgment in a claim against them by a Russian oil company on the basis that the claim had no real prospect of success. It also set aside an order permitting service out of the jurisdiction on two other defendants, as there was no serious issue to be tried. The claimant had no standing to bring the proceedings and the claim was misconceived as a matter of Russian law.
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Judgment Date: 29 Apr 2016
The court had jurisdiction under the Senior Courts Act 1981 s.37 to grant a notification injunction restraining defendants in an unlawful means conspiracy claim from disposing or dealing with their assets without prior notification. The injunction was granted as the claimants had demonstrated a good arguable case that there was a risk that the defendants might dissipate their assets.
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Judgment Date: 28 Jan 2016
A freezing order was continued against a solicitor who had been the managing director of a firm which had allegedly fraudulently claimed legal aid for thousands of cases. The firm had been liquidated, but the solicitor had signed a deed of guarantee and indemnity in respect of the firm's legal aid contracts and the court was satisfied that, based on the alleged dishonesty and a transfer of property, there was a real risk that assets would be dissipated in order to frustrate a future judgment.
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