International criminal law


Our team has developed solid expertise in the field of international criminal law and assists its clients in connection with the execution of international letters rogatory, mutual legal assistance requests or extradition requests, as well as in the event international arrest warrants are issued. For these purposes, we have developed close ties with law firms throughout the world. We also have extensive experience in multi-jurisdictional cases and transnational proceedings.
  • We advised a former officer who holds Brazilian nationality but resides in France on the risk of extradition he faced due to a criminal conviction in Brazil that had become final.
  • We defended the interests of a Brazilian businessman who was prosecuted before the Paris High Court on the grounds of misappropriation of corporate assets, forgery and use of forged documents, bribery of foreign public officials, concealment and laundering the proceeds of these offences and laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud in connection with the signature of several contracts with an African country.
  • We defended the interests of a former officer of a leading Swiss trust company involved in criminal proceedings initiated on the grounds of fraud by an organised gang and laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud by an organised gang in connection with the sale of fake antique furniture through offshore structures.
  • We defended the interests of an oligarch in connection with a criminal investigation initiated before the Paris High Court on the grounds of alleged bribery in connection with the award of various contracts in central Europe. We defended the interests of that same oligarch in connection with a parliamentary enquiry initiated in Belgium to investigate the alleged interference of the French government in past legal proceedings involving our client that had ended in a plea bargain that had become final.
  • We defended the interests of a spirits group in connection with an investigation initiated in France concerning various exports to Morocco.
  • We defended the interests of the acquirer of a company in connection with a criminal investigation initiated before the Paris High Court on the grounds of bribery of foreign public officials and influence peddling alleged against the company’s former officers.
  • We defended the interests of a corporate officer in connection with defamatory allegations of bribery made against him in connection with various investments made by his group in Morocco.
  • We defended the interests of a leading cement group in connection with a criminal investigation initiated before the Paris High Court on the grounds of alleged financing of terrorism.
  • We defended the interests of collectors who were the victims of a merchant’s acts breach of trust and money laundering.
  • We defended the interests of a French firm in the mining sector that was the victim of a breach of trust committed by an employee for the benefit of one of its commercial partners, consisting in the misappropriation of the victim’s know-how for the purpose of developing a major commercial project in Asia.
  • We defended the interests of a prominent Saudi figure who was a defendant in criminal proceedings in France.
  • We defended the interests of the French subsidiary of a German group in the construction sector before the French consumer fraud authorities (DGCCRF) in connection with the discovery that one of its products was not in compliance with a technical standard.
  • We defended the interests of a lawyer in a case involving tax fraud, laundering the proceeds of tax fraud, misappropriation of corporate assets, bankruptcy and complicity also implicating the Luxembourg directors of a real estate group.
  • We assisted in defending the interests of a leading industrial company following the revelation of acts committed by the director of an Australian subsidiary that were contrary to the terms of his employment contract and potentially criminal.
  • We defended the interests of a French engineering company and its director in connection with criminal proceedings commenced in the United States of America (New York State) for alleged corruption under business relationships forged in Mali, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Ivory Coast.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a leading French bank and assisted it in connection with a multiplicity of requests for information and international letters rogatory issued against it by foreign judicial authorities, and implemented the French Blocking Statute.
  • We defended the interests of an officer of a Greek tobacco company who was charged with allegedly bribing a foreign public official with an interest in the execution of an international letter rogatory sent to the French courts, and obtained a decision allowing the transfer of the information requested.
  • We defended the interests of a Spanish business banker in connection with a major political and financial scandal that led to criminal prosecution on the grounds of embezzlement of company assets and concealment of that offence for acts committed inter alia in France, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain, and obtained an acquittal on nearly all charges and a fine that was suspended for the remaining charges.
  • We defended the interests of a leading armaments company in connection with a criminal investigation followed by an indictment on the grounds of murder and unintentional homicide in relation with a terrorist enterprise and involuntary homicide and injuries in connection with an attack in Karachi.
  • We defended the interests of a subsidiary of a French industrial group that was a civil party in a misappropriation of company assets and bribery case, for acts committed in Pakistan, Switzerland and France.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of the former chairman of a French bank in connection with proceedings initiated against him in the United States in connection with the acquisition of a California life insurance company, and obtained a lenient decision (Alford plea) after various international letters rogatory issued by the US authorities were rejected on the grounds of the French Blocking Statute.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of the shareholders of a Cuban real estate promotion company, who were the victims of forgery and breach of trust committed by the company’s Italian officers, whose convictions in Italy and Cuba have become final.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of the officer of a hotel group prosecuted in France and the United States for fraud, and obtained his release from prison in the United States. His release from prison became possible when an international arrest warrant that had been issued against him by a French investigating magistrate was lifted and the request for his extradition was abandoned. These measures were decided in connection with the extension of his indictment in France by videoconference while he was still imprisoned in the United States (first indictment by videoconference).
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of the officers of a German television manufacturer who were prosecuted on the grounds of misappropriation of company assets and fraudulent bankruptcy, and obtained the lifting of the international arrest warrants issued against them, the cancellation of the order setting the matter for trial and a dismissal of the charges against one of them.
  • We defended the interests of an officer of a Spanish construction and public works company in a case filed on the grounds of misappropriation of company assets, in which the officer was extradited and indicted in France, before we obtained his release from prison and a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of a multinational in the energy sector after two Russian regions filed a criminal complaint against it on the grounds of breach of trust, in which it was alleged that the company had sabotaged a production-sharing contract supposedly causing a lost opportunity of over $170 billion, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of the chairman and chief executive officer of an industrial group that is a leader in the electric power distribution sector, who was prosecuted by the Belgian courts on the grounds of fraud and laundering the proceeds of that offence, and obtained a lenient decision.
  • We advised an industrial group in connection with the discovery of possible bribes paid to foreign public officials to obtain contracts in Asia.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a UAE bank that was defrauded of $243 million. The conviction of the perpetrator of the fraud has become final and his assets were seized in various European countries and in the United States.
  • We defended the interests of an officer of a leading French insurer, which was a civil party in a case filed following the embezzlement of several million euros by one of its general agents and the subsequent concealment and laundering of the proceeds, which had been committed primarily in Spain. The seizure of the perpetrator’s assets was ordered in France and Spain.
  • We defended the interests of a leading insurance company, which was a civil party in a case filed on the grounds of forgery and use of forged documents against an employee, whose conviction for acts committed in France and Spain has become final.
  • We defended the interests of a defence group following a search conducted on the premises of its representation office in Greece.
  • We participated in the defence, at first instance, of the interests of an individual who was prosecuted for insider trading in connection with a tender offer made by a major French metallurgical group for the shares of a US company, and obtained a lenient decision.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of the chairman and chief executive officer of a US record publishing group in connection with criminal proceedings initiated in both France and the United States inter alia on the grounds of insider trading, and obtained a lenient decision.
  • We defended the interests of a leading French business bank that was the victim of a fraud in the warrants market, which involved a false counterparty in Panama and the complicity of an executive of the bank, and obtained the conviction of the perpetrators of the plan and the seizure of their assets in France and Belgium.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a leading French bank in criminal proceedings initiated in the US and the UK in connection with the manipulation of the Libor and Euribor rates, which led to various international letters rogatory being executed in France that raised difficulties under the French Blocking Statute.
  • We defended the interests of a Swiss bank and its chief executive officer who were prosecuted in France on the grounds of aggravated laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud for acts committed in France, Switzerland and Singapore by a former Budget Minister.
  • We defended the interests of a Swiss bank and its chief executive officer who were prosecuted in France on the grounds of aggravated laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud for acts committed in France, Switzerland and Singapore, and obtained two favourable decisions (charges dismissed against the officer and the first plea bargain (“CRPC”) negotiated by the national financial crimes prosecutor (“PNF”) and the French government in this field).
  • We defended the interests of a Swiss bank and its chief executive officer who were prosecuted in France on the grounds of aggravated laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud for acts committed in France, Luxembourg, Singapore and Switzerland.
  • We defended the interests of two former managers of customer accounts opened with a well-known Swiss institution that appeared on the Falciani lists, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of a former officer of a leading Swiss bank in proceedings initiated against the bank on the grounds of aggravated laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud and illegal solicitation, and against its French establishment on the grounds of aiding and abetting these two offences, for acts committed in France and Switzerland.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a former president of the Ivory Coast in proceedings for tax fraud initiated in France and Switzerland, and obtained a dismissal of the charges in both cases.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of an officer of a French equipment manufacturer in the aeronautics sector that is based in Malta in a tax fraud case, and obtained a lenient decision.
  • We defended the interests of a major business bank and its chairman in connection with bribery proceedings initiated in Germany following the sale to a German länder of the investment of a French company, which was a client of the bank, in a German company, which led to the service of international letters rogatory in France, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of a leading investment fund in connection with highly publicised criminal and civil actions initiated in France and Belgium by a minority shareholder seeking the cancellation of the investment fund’s takeover of a major retailer, on the grounds that the sale price had been knowingly over-evaluated to enable the payment of bribes, and obtained the dismissal of both cases.
  • We defended the interests of two officers of a leading company in the energy sector in connection with a criminal investigation initiated on the grounds of bribery of Libyan public officials, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of a leading construction and public works group in a matter of alleged bribery in Russia, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of two leading companies in the defence sector in a case alleging the bribery of Taiwanese public officials, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We defended the interests of a leading company in the engineering field in a criminal investigation initiated on the grounds of forgery and use of forged documents and attempted fraud in connection with the actions of a sales consultant acting on its behalf in Russia, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of an industrial company in proceedings initiated on the grounds of the bribery of Malaysian public officials.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a leading French airline which was prosecuted in the United States on the grounds of illicit concerted practices, for which it was exonerated after several international letters rogatory were issued that raised difficulties under the French Blocking Statute.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of a Luxembourg clearing house which was targeted in connection with a vast political and financial scandal, and obtained a dismissal of the charges.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of an industrial company in connection with administrative and criminal proceedings initiated in Brazil after it obtained a major contract.
  • We defended the interests of a multinational in the energy sector, which filed a criminal complaint on the grounds of fraud by an organised gang and attempted fraud by an organised gang, following sham arbitration proceedings initiated in Sweden against a former subsidiary.
  • We participated in the defence of the interests of an industrial company in proceedings initiated on the grounds of the bribery of Colombian public officials.
  • We defended the interests of an insurance company that was the victim of various acts of embezzlement of funds by inputting fraudulent data into a data processing system and altering data in said system. This case led to an international ring being dismantled, and the perpetrators were identified, extradited and convicted at first instance (appeal pending).
  • We defended the interests of the head of various Swiss foundations in proceedings initiated in France on the grounds of tax fraud and laundering of the proceeds thereof.
  • We provided legal advice, based on Belgian and French law, in relation to a misappropriation of company assets to an armaments company.
  • We provided legal advice on the possible consequences in France for a major French company if it entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the US DOJ, and monitored the implementation thereof.
  • We advise the Paris office of a Belgian cooperative that does business in the interbank transactions field in connection with the judicial requests that it regularly receives.
  • We advised a worldwide leader in the IT field on Interpol Red Notices.
  • We drafted an anti-bribery bill and its implementing decrees on behalf of an African country.