Barristers

Jonathan Kinnear QC

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Jonathan Kinnear QC

Called

1994 Called-Northern Ireland 1996

Queen's Counsel

2012

Called – Northern Ireland

1996

Appointments

QC List for SFO Prosecution Panel & Proceeds of Crime Panel (2013)

Recorder of the Crown Court (appointed October 2009)
 

Professional Complaints Committee of the Bar Standards Board (appointed March 2008) 
 

Special Advocate appointed by the Attorney General to deal with terrorism (Special Immigration Appeals Commission) cases and complex public interest immunity (PII) issues (appointed March 2007)
 

Deputy District Judge (magistrates' court) (appointed October 2004)

Reviews

Recommended by the Legal 500 in fraud work for the last 3 years. 

Practice Areas and Specialisations

Jonathan specialises in matters of real financial complexity in criminal, civil, regulatory and tribunal jurisdictions.
He has extensive experience in prosecuting and defending in the full spectrum of serious crime, including murder and major drugs conspiracies.
He also acts as a special advocate dealing with cases relating to national security and has particular expertise in relation to disclosure issues.
 
Criminal Law
Jonathan’s criminal practice focuses on the prosecution and defence of serious fraud, the related money laundering and subsequent confiscation proceedings. In recent years he has appeared in many of the most serious and complex cases both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal.
 
He has particular expertise in the area of MTIC carousel VAT fraud and over the last seven years he has been instructed in some of the largest and most serious cases brought by the RCPO and latterly the CPS.
 
He also has extensive experience in the restraint and recovery of the proceeds of crime under both the CJA 1988 and POCA regimes. He appeared in the leading case in relation to the determination of realisable and hidden assets and in several leading cases in relation to the calculation of benefit.  
 
He is currently instructed in several confiscation cases which involve benefit figures and realisable assets running to tens of millions of pounds. He is also instructed in relation to matters relating to restraint and enforcement in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
 
Jonathan has extensive expertise in the dealing with cases relating to direct taxation including income tax, capital gains tax, NIC and PAYE, in particular, in relation to accountants, labour providers and “gangmasters”. He has an in-depth knowledge of accountancy procedure and the use of forensic accountants.
 
Jonathan has also been widely instructed to defend in SFO prosecutions involving the defrauding and theft of pension funds and Customs prosecutions relating to VAT offences, diversion fraud and the evasion of duty.
 
His involvement in these areas of work has led to a detailed knowledge in a number of specialist areas including PII, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) issues, disclosure and the obtaining and use of evidence from foreign jurisdictions. He has experience of visiting prosecuting authorities and judges abroad to liaise in respect of the obtaining and use of foreign evidence.
 
He is currently instructed to defend in a major fraud on Santander, a large scale conspiracy to supply class A drugs and is advising a private investigator in relation to a phone hacking investigation.
 
Civil Law
Jonathan has an expanding practice in the area of civil fraud, particularly at the margins between criminal and civil procedure.
 
He has recently advised a magic circle firm in relation to substantial civil claims made against a large accountancy firm.
 
He has particular experience in the First Tier Tribunal, Tax and the Upper Tribunal were he has dealt with a large number of high value cases relating relating to HMRC’s denial of the repayment of input tax.  He is currently instructed in about 15 such cases, relating to almost £100 million of VAT.
 
He is currently instructed in relation to a leading case in relation to HMRC’s right to deregister active traders. The case involves a substantial European element and is subject to Judicial Review proceedings, an area in which he has experience both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal.
 
Regulatory
Jonathan is currently instructed by the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) in relation to a number of high profile investigations into the directors and auditors of failed or ailing companies. These cases are very factually complex, involve examination of detailed technical standards and the consideration of material generated by other agencies such as the FSA and BIS.
 
Jonathan has experience of representing police officers in relation to criminal allegations, internal disciplinary proceedings and at inquests and public enquiries.
 
Judicial and Quasi-Judicial Experience
As well as sitting as a Recorder of the Crown Court and as a District Judge, Jonathan has sat on and chaired a number of RFU disciplinary tribunals.  He has been a member of the BSB PCC for the last 4 years undertaking the review and presentation of cases against fellow barristers.
 
Details of a selection of the cases in which Jonathan has been involved, and links to law and press reports, can be found behind the “Cases of Interest” tab.

Education and Qualifications

The Inns of Court School of Law
LL.B Hons - University of Newcastle Upon Tyne
Methodist College, Belfast

Memberships

South Eastern Circuit
Criminal Bar Association

Cases of Interest

Criminal Law
 
Operation Fastback - R v Cranswick and Others
 
This case has been widely reported as the largest VAT fraud ever prosecuted, with an estimated loss to the Revenue of £365 million. Jonathan led two juniors on behalf of the Crown.  The first defendant was a serving police officer at the beginning of the fraud.  There were 8 defendants, 6 of whom were represented by silks.  There were 50,000 pages of statements and exhibits and millions of pages of unused material.  The defendants eventually pleaded guilty 2 weeks into the listed trial.  Jonathan is currently instructed to deal with confiscation.  The case received substantial publicity in the national TV and print news.
Press Links
Independant News Report

R v Marsden and McIntosh [2011] EWCA Crim 1501; [2011] 4 All E.R. 917; [2011] S.T.C. 2349; [2012] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 60; [2011] Lloyd's Rep. F.C. 577; [2011] Crim. L.R. 814; [2011] S.T.I. 1940;
 
This is the leading case in relation to the calculation of realisable and hidden assets.  Jonathan was leading counsel for the Crown in an appeal to the Court of Appeal in relation to 2 confiscation orders of £3.6 million each.  The case involved a reconsideration of a number of the leading authorities in respect of realisable and hidden assets, in particular RCPO v Telli.  The court clarified the test in relation to the calculation of hidden assets and the case is now the leading case on the topic.  The orders were upheld.
R v Sander -[2009] EWCA Crim 2377; [2010] 1 Cr. App. R. 20 (p.285), [2011] 1 Cr. App. R. 6
 
Jonathan led for the Crown in the prosecution of Mr Sander in relation to the laundering of £7 million that was the proceeds of MTIC fraud.  At the initial trial the jury were tampered with and the Judge ruled that he would complete the trial without a jury.  This was the first time that such an order had been made under the new law.  There followed 2 interlocutory appeals, both heard by the Lord Chief Justice.  The case was eventually heard by the Recorder of Birmingham with a protected jury.  The defendant was convicted on all counts.  Jonathan is currently conducting the confiscation proceedings.
Press Links

R v Ahmed and Ahmad [2012] EWCA Crim 391; [2012] S.T.I. 546
 
Jonathan was led by Sir Derek Spencer QC in a confiscation case that resulted in orders of £184 million being made, the largest ever in the UK.  Since the orders were made Jonathan has dealt with the substantive hearings in the Court of Appeal in relation to both the appeal against the confiscation order, but also the application for Judicial Review made by the defendants in respect of their committal to prison for 10 years for non-payment.  The applicants were unsuccessful in their JR proceedings.  The case is currently under appeal to the Supreme Court.
Press Links
Operation Dandelion – R v Flynn, Martin and others
 
Jonathan Kinnear led in the prosecution of four defendants for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, in an investigation by the City of London Police Economic Crime Department. The defendants conspired together fraudulently to obtain a bridging loan of £1.5 million. They used two fake sheikhs to pose as wealthy Arab brothers, Malthoum and Saeed Mebjar, who claimed to own a £6 million property in London’s West End to secure the loan. The property, which was on sale, was “hijacked” using details obtained from the Land Registry and by the production of a number of false documents.

Operation Inertia – R v Ravjani
 
This was a very substantial MTIC fraud prosecution.  The loss to the Revenue was in excess of £175 million.  There have been 4 trials, leading to the conviction of 15 defendants.  Jonathan acted as the lead disclosure counsel, in a team of 5 counsel (headed by Michael Brompton QC), and was responsible for all disclosure policy and issues at substantive hearings.  The first defendant received a sentence of 17 years, believed to be the longest sentence ever imposed for fraud.  Jonathan is currently instructed to conduct the very substantial confiscation proceedings, where the alleged benefit runs into hundreds of millions of pounds.
 
Operation Decade, R v. Warman and others
 
Jonathan led two juniors in the successful prosecution of an accountant and two property developers charged with evading over £1 million in income tax, through the double manipulation of their accounts and tax returns. The case involved the management of over one million pages of unused material and extensive evidence from forensic accountants.  Jonathan conducted the confiscation proceedings at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, leading to an order of over £1 million.
Press Links 
Operation Callous -  R v Rana and Others

Jonathan was instructed as leading counsel in the prosecution of an accountant and four other defendants in a VAT repayment fraud, causing a loss to the Revenue in excess of £2.5 million. 
Press Links 

Operation Wembley, R v Sidhu and Others

Jonathan was instructed as leading junior in the successful prosecution of five defendants in relation to cheating the Revenue of PAYE, NI contributions and VAT, through the manipulation of trading and accounts of companies involved in the supply of labour to the construction industry, including a number of high profile projects such as the new Wembley Stadium.   He currently has conducted of the substantial proceedings.
Press Link 
R v C and Others
 
Instructed as leading junior in successful confiscation proceedings against eight defendants convicted of a variety of conspiracy to cheat the Revenue and money laundering offences. Total assessed benefit figure was in excess of £80 million and many millions have been confiscated. 
 
R v Powell and Others ­
 
Represented the defendant in the SFO prosecution in the Cheney Pension case which involved the asset striping of a company pension fund. 
 
Operation Aware, R v. Wing and Others 
 
Instructed as leading junior in the successful prosecution of six defendants for conspiracy to cheat the Revenue of PAYE, NI contributions and VAT through the supply of labour to the agricultural and packing industries. Conducted the substantial contested disclosure proceedings. 
 
Operations Devout I and II ­ [2010] EWCA Crim 66; [2010] Crim. L.R. 578, 
 
Junior counsel in a series of 6 trials over 3 years that resulted in the successful prosecution of twenty-five defendants for their involvement in VAT carousel fraud and the related money laundering. Issues in the Court of Appeal included matters relating to disclosure, bad character and inferences from silence in interview. The case involved multi-jurisdictional confiscation proceedings involving the movement of money through trusts and bank accounts in Jersey, the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein, Dubai and Switzerland. 
 
Operations Capri II and III ­ [2008] EWCA Crim 1477
 
Originally junior counsel, latterly leading counsel in the successful prosecution of fifteen defendants for corruption, VAT fraud and the related money laundering, including a senior officer of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and a bank manager. 
Press Link 
Civil Fraud
 
HMRC v Crouch Commodities 
 
First-tier case involving appeal against decision to deny VAT input tax of £20 million. 
 
HMRC v Radarbeam [2010] UKFTT 431 (TC)
 
First-tier case involving appeal against decision to withhold repayments of £4.5 million. 
 
Deandrake Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2011] UKFTT 250 (TC)
 
HMRC v Martem [2011] UKFTT 641 (TC) 
 
First-tier case involving appeal to withhold VAT input tax of £5 million.
 
Jonathan is currently instructed to represent the Commissioners of HMRC in fifteen other cases, each involving the denial of millions of pounds of VAT reclaims. 
 
R v P ­ 
 
Contested restraint proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal relating to applications to release millions of pounds of assets from restrained assets.
 
Regulatory
 
Jonathan is currently advising the AADB in relation to the following cases:-
An investigation under its Scheme for the accountancy profession into the conduct of a Member of the ICAEW and of HWCA Limited, the former auditors of Worthington Nicholls Group Plc until 4 December 2007.
 
An investigation into the conduct of certain Members of professional accountancy bodies who were involved in the events leading up to the collapse of European Home Retail plc and Farepak Food & Gifts Ltd.
 
An investigation under its Scheme for the accountancy profession into the conduct of Members and of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as auditors to Cattles plc.
 
An investigation under its Accountancy Scheme into the conduct of KPMG Audit plc as auditors to BAE Systems plc.

Associated Work

Jonathan is currently a member of the Chambers' Management Committee and plays a leading role in the administration of Chambers.

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