White Collar Crime
Securing successful outcomes for our clients in all areas and types of white collar crime
Trusted experts on white collar crime in Central and Eastern Europe
Whether you are a victim of fraud or yourself facing a criminal investigation, you need to move fast to stay ahead of the game and you want an excellent and highly efficient team of legal advisors at your side. You can rely on our White Collar Crime team’s experience in representing companies and individuals in all kinds of criminal investigations, including international investigations, and in conducting global asset tracing projects.
We can advise and represent you in corruption and fraud cases, and our strong regional ties and contacts allow us to combine our legal know how with our practical expertise so that we can create solutions that work for you in the real world. Last but not least, if you want to reduce your exposure to risk resulting from breaches of law or non-compliance, we have the tools to help you. We offer customised compliance training programmes and assist you in discovering hidden risks so that you can plan accordingly.
Key Contacts
Areas of specialisation
Fraud & Breach of Trust
Employees have defrauded your company or its business partners? Decision-makers are disregarding the company’s interests and are involved in business damaging to the company? Whether you are the suspected party preparing a defence, or the investigation team pursuing damage claims against the responsible opponents, you need a highly experienced and knowledgeable team of white collar crime lawyers with years of experience working with criminal authorities. We offer you all this in one hand.
Furthermore, as representatives for the CEE/SEE in the International Fraud Group – a network of lawyers specialising in international fraud and asset recovery cases – our team can leverage connections globally to assist you in your pursuits.
Internal Investigations
Are you a subject of investigations initiated by the government, whistle-blower complaints, dawn raids, or as a result of fraudulent activities? For many years, we have been working on matters which require an in-depth internal investigation of occurrences that caused significant damage or some other severe impact to our clients and their businesses. This puts us in a leading position to provide high level service for you in such complex and sensitive situations.
Global Asset Tracing
When your business organisation is damaged due to criminal acts, time is of the essence; in particular in the first days following the discovery. The sooner you start tracing the assets the higher the chances to recuperate them and limit the damage. We help you gather the necessary details, and use our networks of asset tracing services and corporate intelligence firms and providers to give you an advantage in efficiently developing tailor-made strategies.
Cybercrime
The internet and e-communication have brought unparalleled opportunities; unfortunately, not just for business. Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing areas of criminal law with more and more criminals exploiting the anonymity and speed of the electronic world to commit an ever-growing number of crimes.
With offenders ranging from individual hackers to highly complex international cybercriminal networks, you need a team which has the size, the connections, the knowledge and the partners to react immediately. The close cooperation between our White Collar Crime, Data Protection, IT and Crisis Management specialists makes us highly effective in helping you.
Compliance
Today’s highly regulated global marketplace requires a multijurisdictional approach to ensure adequate compliance programmes. Criminal authorities increasingly look at existing compliance standards when exercising their discretionary powers to prosecute companies and scrutinise how companies react to criminal incidents going forward. You can rely on us to develop, monitor and enforce your corporate compliance programme and to improve your compliance and anti-corruption guidelines.
Criminal Law Proceedings
A criminal case is no place to skimp on your defence. Whether you are an individual or a business, we can represent you at all levels of criminal court proceedings against allegations such as corruption, fraud, insider trading and money laundering. Our Tax team has extensive experience in fiscal criminal law and can advise you on filing self-disclosures, in particular in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, or defend you against allegations of balance sheet fraud.
Crisis Management
Once you are a victim of cybercrime or fake president fraud, suffer data security breaches or are subject to a sensitive internal investigation, it is vital to move quickly and to have the right team of legal counsel at your side. We use our many years of experience advising clients in administrative, regulatory and government investigations to your benefit, and work together with you and with specialists in crisis PR to ensure the right message goes out to the media. We help in putting crisis management and communication plans and procedures in place, so that if it comes to the worst, you are well prepared.
Leading the legal field
Our lawyers are involved in key transactions and matters across the region, bringing their industry expertise and specialised business knowledge to add value to our clients’ work.
Advised banking group in light of criminal liability of one of the bank’s clients
Complete acquittal for major real estate investor accused of criminal conduct
Full dismissal in €1.9 billion criminal case
Criminal allegations against major banking client dismissed
Recognised specialists in corporate crime, investigations, global asset tracing, cybercrime & fraud
Full acquittal for our client
Our team advised and successfully represented Cevdet Caner, a real estate investor who built up a real-estate portfolio with net worth EUR 1.5 billion, in criminal proceedings started after several years of investigative proceedings.
The alleged criminal conduct included money laundering, investment fraud related to real-estate bonds and defrauding involved credit institutions in relation to debt financing. We secured a full acquittal for our client.
Supporting banking group regarding criminal liability of bank client
Our team of white collar crime lawyers advised a banking group on the criminal liability of one of its clients in the Czech Republic and the consequences of this on the business relationship between them in light of several criminal proceedings and judgments against the bank’s client.
Successful criminal defence
We advised and successfully represented Airbus in various proceedings, including criminal proceedings, which occurred after the initial sale of 18 Eurofighter “Typhoon” military aircraft to the Republic of Austria. This is one of the most important criminal cases in Austria within the last decade with a value of EUR 1.9 billion. We secured a full dismissal of all allegations against our client.
Fraud & breach of fiduciary duty allegations dismissed
We advised Bank Medici in criminal investigations conducted by the Austrian Public Prosecutor and subsequently in the release of all frozen assets in various European jurisdictions resulting from the bank’s involvement in the Madoff fraud.
Our work resulted in the dismissal of the allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty against our client.
Get in touch
Whether you need an international team with extensive experience, Wolf Theiss can support your business goals through our profound legal practice.
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