Experts in proceeds of crime litigation

All of the following text is subject to the phrase "provided you can afford it" and/or "if your litigation budget allows". 

The main expert required in a proceeds of crime defence is an accountant. If your matter is particularly complex, messy, and potentially shady, we will need a forensic accountant, and a very good one at that. 

We increasingly come across cases that require digital asset specialists and specialist accountants who have a 'very particular set of skills' when it comes to forex and coin trading. 

Millennial and Millenial-ish aged lawyers and experts seem to be preferred by prominent criminal proceeds litigants. These are litigants who are highly intelligent, energetic, and street smart. They also know what they want and expect from lawyers and experts, and we are grateful to many of these clients dropping in to see us as their 'first point of call'. 

There is also a defence need and client demand for forensic accountants who have an up to date understanding of national and international 'supply chains and transactions' when it comes to the trade in illicit substances. Now this is a tricky one to talk about, let alone put into writing without adding a tonne of context, which nobody has time to do on this blog post. One client said to us earlier this year: "we need accountants who understand trap houses and trap culture and trap language". Quite. We thought about this for awhile and came to agreement that a 'trap accountant' could actually be of enormous help to defendants/respondents/interested parties. Our view is we could multiply potential defences available to clients when we have lawyers and experts who understand 'the culture' of the illicit market (you know, they know their "8-ball" from their "watch"). What we mean by this is that unless a lawyer/expert understands the habits and culture of a particular category of proceeds client, then it is hard to pick holes in the forensic accountancy of the police: cash deposits in a bank account? (It's clearly meth money your Honour) Purchasing bitcoin at the same time as a package from Thailand arrives at customs? (You clearly imported that package of meth using bitcoin on the dark web). 

Police forensic accountancy always looks good and strong on it's face (and the formatting of the crown solicitor's pleadings is generally stylish - except for one region which shall remain unnamed (Napier.... shocking)). We cannot put into writing fully why we think a trap accountant is a missing jewel in the defence counsel crown, but trust us on this, we have seen a few examples in early 2024 of how and why a trap accountant could be of value. 

Other experts that could be of value in proceeds defence are related to:
Cultural experts 
Health & Safety at work experts 
Valuers
Engineers 
Legal experts in specific practice areas (International law, Relationship property etc)
Gambling 
Psychologists/Psychiatrists 
Gangs
Organised crime 
Technical specialists 

Experts that we think will become of increasing (or new) importance in the next 10 years are related to:
Tikanga
'Trap' accountants 
'Trap' linguists 
Trans-tasman and international crime 
Art (physical and digital)
Commercial sexual services 
Child welfare 
Gold, Silver, diamond, and fine jewelry experts 

Our first line of advice to clients is always: if you can afford it, please engage an accountant or a forensic accountant. If you have significant property at stake, and you decide to go into a forfeiture hearing without any accounting expertise to challenge the Commissioner's evidence, then you will need to accept the risk of doing so. Barristers excel in law, evidence, argument. We are terrible with maths and tax.