The Serious Fraud Office has been granted an additional half a million pounds in its ongoing court battle with Eurasian Natural Resources Corporations over the SFO’s now-dropped investigation into the Kazakh mining company.
Today's pre-trial review hearing is in relation to an upcoming trial where ENRC claim against the SFO along with John Gibson, a former SFO officer, and SFO investigator Tony Puddick, for breaches of confidence, misfeasance in public office and unlawful means conspiracy over sensitive information about the SFO's investigation into the ENRC being leaked to media and third parties.
In a separate claim, ENRC is seeking millions in damages for losses totalling some £21m which it claims it would not have incurred if not for international firm Dechert and its former head of white-collar crime Neil Gerrard and his ‘breach of duty induced by the [SFO]’. In earlier judgments in those proceedings, the inducement claim against the SFO was made out, subject to causation and loss, in respect of 15 disputed contacts. A misfeasance claim was not made out.
In today's hearing, Mr Justice Foxton granted an increase to the SFO’s budget. The agency and Gibson and the second defendant, were jointly represented but from 20 June the parties have been separately represented.
The court heard the joint budget was £8.6m but the proposed uplift for the SFO plus £1.9m sought by Gibson would take the total to £11.2m.
Tom Richards KC, for the SFO, said it sought an uplift of £580,000 ‘on the basis of two significant developments’. The uplift is made up of £388,000 which ‘concerns the SFO needing to replace previous leading counsel’ and around £190,000 for further disclosure obligations.
The court heard the change in leading counsel was ‘on the basis of necessity due to matters of professional obligation’.
Richards said: ‘This was a development imposed on the SFO and Mr Gibson. It was not their choice. My submission is for a party to unexpectedly lose leading counsel for reasons outside their control is a significant development.’
Anna Boase KC, for ENRC, said: ‘The existing joint budget of the first and second defendants was £8.6m…the adjustments increases the joint budget to £11.2m. We say surely some of the joint budget must be attributable to representing Mr Gibson. The SFO wish to keep the whole of the original budget and Mr Gibson wants a budget of his own.’
The judge allowed the budget to be increased by £380,000 for counsel and ‘by a figure of £120,000 for the disclosure’.
Trial skeleton pagination increases were also sought. ENRC will be able to submit an 85-page skeleton, the SFO 75 pages; 50 pages each has been allowed for Gibson and Puddick.
The trial is listed for seven-weeks to start in October this year.
