Quinn Emanuel London Achieves Comprehensive Victory in High-Profile Fraud Claim

Quinn Emanuel’s London office has achieved a significant victory for our client, Mr John Deuss in a substantial and high-profile fraud case before the English High Court. The team successfully defended Mr Deuss against allegations of fraud, brought by liquidator Mr Stephen Hunt and Transworld Payment Solutions Limited UK (in liquidation) (“TWPS”). The total value of the claims brought exceeded £280 million.

The claims related to events which took place over two decades ago, between 2003 and 2006, in the context of missing trader intra-community (“MTIC”) fraud in the UK telecoms and mobile goods sectors. Mr Hunt alleged that Mr Deuss had dishonestly assisted 19 companies engaged in MTIC fraud by providing banking services to them through his bank First Curaçao International Bank N.V. and its marketing arm, TWPS.

The Quinn Emanuel team (working with instructed counsel) developed and executed a defence strategy that meticulously unpicked the structure and substance of the Claimants’ claims. The result was a comprehensive judgment by Mr Justice Leech in which he dismissed the Claimants’ claims in their entirety, finding in Mr Deuss’s favour on every issue. The Court’s decision not only vindicated Mr Deuss in respect of the historic allegations, but also made critical findings in relation to the conduct of Mr Hunt and his firm of insolvency practitioners, Griffins, in restoring TWPS to the Register of Companies so that it could be used as a vehicle to bring claims for their benefit.

Mr Deuss was represented by the following Quinn Emanuel lawyers: Richard East, Cordelia Rayner, Jasdeep Gill, Muzhgan Wahaj and Tishta Tandon, as well as a counsel team comprising Bankim Thanki KC (Fountain Court), Saul Lemer (One Essex Court) and Paul Fradley (South Square).

Link to the judgment here.