A confidential out of court settlement has been reached in a long-running civil case
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Dechert LLP and David Neil Gerrard have concluded the proceedings between them on terms which are confidential.
Between 2013 and 2023, the SFO investigated Kazakh mining company ENRC over suspected bribery and corruption linked to mining assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. The investigation concluded without charges due to insufficient admissible evidence.
ENRC brought a civil claim against its former lawyers in 2017 and the SFO in 2019. The court found the SFO was in breach of its duties, including engaging with and taking unauthorised information between 2011 and 2013. The court also found that, but for this conduct, the investigation would not have opened.
Reflecting on the wider history of the case, Matthew Wagstaff, Director of Legal Services, said:
We are confident that the SFO’s wrongdoing between 2011 and 2013 could never happen again.
The SFO is a fundamentally different organisation. We have overhauled how we operate with stronger governance, independent oversight and clearer safeguards.
Details of the SFO’s budget and expenditure are published in our annual report and accounts.