Gerald Edelman acts as expert in POCA case

We are pleased to announce that Carl Lundberg, Partner at Gerald Edelman, acted as an expert in a Proceeds of Crime Act (“POCA”) matter following the conviction of the Defendant for five counts pertaining to dishonestly claiming benefits to which he was not entitled.

The Crown prepared an estimate of the financial benefit obtained by the Defendant as a result of the offences, some of which consisted of ‘cash deposits’ paid into the Defendants bank accounts. Acting on behalf of the Defendant, we identified ‘very strong’ evidence that 20.4% of the cash deposits into the Defendant’s bank accounts related to transfers between accounts, rather than the proceeds of crime. We also identified ‘strong’ evidence that a further 13.8% of cash deposits also relates to transfers between accounts.

William Abell (Associate Director) commented:

“This case was a great example of the benefit that engaging a forensic accountant has in POCA cases. All too often we see financial investigators working on behalf of the Crown overestimate the proceeds of crime due to the adoption of inappropriate methods and/or assumptions in their calculations. Detailed scrutiny and examination of the financial benefit in POCA cases can avoid over-confiscation.”