Former Arcadia Executives Awarded Record Nine-Figure Damages for Wrongly Obtained Freezing Order
A Quinn Emanuel team from London, led by Co-Managing Partner Ted Greeno, has secured a landmark victory in the aftermath of one of the most substantial fraud cases of the decade. Today, the Commercial Court awarded our clients Peter Bosworth and Colin Hurley, the former CEO and CFO of the Arcadia Group, once one of the world’s largest oil trading companies, nine-figure damages for a wrongly obtained worldwide freezing order. The award is believed to be more than double the largest ever made in a claim of this kind.
The ruling completes a fight of more than a decade: a $500 million fraud claim that collapsed at trial, followed by a separate inquiry into the damage caused by the freezing order, all on a legal battle we funded on credit for six years. It is a reminder that applicants who seek a remedy once described as a “nuclear weapon” must be prepared to stand behind it. Having defeated the fraud claim, we have now secured what our clients were owed.
A Fraud Claim with No Fraud
In 2015, companies associated with Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, including Farahead Holdings, sued in the Commercial Court, alleging a massive and elaborate oil trading fraud by former Arcadia Petroleum management. The claim began at $335 million and had grown to more than $500 million by the 2024 trial.
In January 2025, working with Richard Eschwege KC, we secured a 429-page judgment from Mr Justice Henshaw dismissing the claims in full. He found that Mr Bosworth and Mr Hurley had acted honestly and with “single-minded loyalty” to the Arcadia Group, and that the allegations were “untenable or non-existent”. He also held that the worldwide freezing order, in place since 2015, had been wrongly obtained, and ordered an inquiry into the damage it caused.
Ten Years Frozen
Throughout the proceedings, our clients were unable to work, raise finance or find investors for the new trading business they had planned to launch. Between 2019 and 2025, to avoid a serious miscarriage of justice, Quinn Emanuel acted for them on credit.
The Price of the Order
In the judgment released today, Mr Justice Henshaw found that, but for the order, our clients would have established a successful oil trading business that would have flourished throughout the ten years it was in place. The award covers the lost profits of that business, lost investment opportunities and interest, and compensation for the “profound effect” of the order on our clients personally.
The result reflects the exceptional work of the whole Quinn Emanuel team, including Becca Coyle, Ben Evans, Mark Thornton, and Jonathan Pond, alongside Richard Eschwege KC and Charles Wall of Brick Court.