ISSUE 53 Expert Witness Journal - Journal - Page 32
Crypto scammers operate in the form of serious organised criminal gangs, who have significant links with
terrorism, child exploitation and human trafficking.
The problem is significant and these gangs are causing untold harm to livelihoods across the globe. 2023
saw the courts consider more cases involving crypto
fraud. Keystone Law and Littleton Chambers were involved in cases concerning:
providing grounds to seek accessory liability against
the exchanges themselves.
l Alternative service of proceedings by NFT Airdrop
creates the ability for the claimants’ experts to ascertain exactly when the documents have been downloaded, which is an important forensic development in
relation to the additional benefit of being able to prove
actual (as opposed to deemed) service.
l HTX/Huobi – the striking-off from the Seychelles
Companies Register and the attendant “decentralisation” process has resulted in the courts widening the
scope of entities being held to be proper defendants.
l Anonymity orders – these require careful preparation and presentation.
l Assigning claims – this includes advanced claims
which have been assigned to English-domiciled
companies.
l The Court’s approach to exchanges innocently
caught up in very serious criminal activities is to make
information orders in line with the 2023 High Court
case of Piroozzadeh.
l UK platform – jurisdictional gateways are a regular
feature of service overseas of such claims and we strive
to locate an English defendant such that it provides
an anchor defendant, which is sufficient, so long as
it can be shown that the overseas defendants are
necessary and proper parties.
l Dishonest assistance – such claims against the
exchanges particularly arise if there has been a blanket refusal to respond to information orders.
l Recent judgments – notwithstanding the refusal of
some exchanges to not respond to information orders,
there are notable examples of some exchanges providing helpful assistance from the first notification they
received. It is essential that such knowledge is utilised
such that working with the exchanges is progressed
so as to seek a swift resolution.
l FCA regulated exchanges – proceedings have been
issued against some regulated exchanges in UK as a
result of regulatory breaches, which is an increasingly
important redress route for victims of crypto fraud.
l Limitation – there are various potential limitation
pitfalls to avoid, which require careful consideration
as to the precise causes of action and remedies which
are chosen to be advanced: usually, from an equity and
restitutionary perspective.
l Disclosure – there are marked differences in the
approaches by exchanges: some are helpful from the
beginning, whilst others simply ignore court orders.
l Enforcement – third party debt orders, committal
If you have been a victim of any of the types of fraud
mentioned in this article, please contact Louise Abbott.
https://www.keystonelaw.com/lawyers/louise-abbott
proceedings, and enforcement overseas are all part of
the weaponry which is available to a successful
claimant who has obtained a judgment.
This article was co-authored by Andrew Maguire of
Littleton Chambers.
l Amending claims to go as against the exchanges for
failure to comply with information orders and thereby
If you require an expert call the Expert Witness
free telephone searchline on 0161 834 0017
Computer Forensics & Data Recovery
Digital Forensic Investigation, Mobile Phone Forensics, Cyber Security, Computer-related Crime
Computer Forensics Lab expertise covers the following specific areas:
O Child Pornography
O Advanced Data Recovery
O Data Security & Data Theft
O e-Disclosure and Litigation
O Internet Banking Fraud
O Cybercrime Investigation
O Computer-related Fraud
O Intellectual Property Breach
O Online Bullying & Stalking
O Mobile Phone Forensics
O Digital Document / Image Validation
O Company Data Leak Investigation
Joseph Naghdi
MBCS, MA, CITP, EnCE, EnCEP
Tel: 0203 934 1070 (direct) 0207 164 6971 (switchboard)
Email: joseph@computerforensicslab.co.uk
Website: computerforensicslab.co.uk
Computer Forensics Lab, Euro House, 133 Ballards Lane, London, N3 1LJ
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