A Cypriot firm regularly used by major UK firms has been found guilty of bribery, conspiracy to defraud and corruption.
Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC is Cyprus's largest law firm and has offices in Moscow, Brussels, Kiev, Prague and Budapest. A number of major UK law firms are understood to routinely refer work to it. But probably not for much longer.
Neocleous & Co and one of its partners, Panayiotis Neocleous, bribed Cyprus' then deputy attorney-general Rikkos Erotokritou to bring a criminal prosecution against a Russian consortium. The firm had been engaged for years in a court battle with the Russian group for control of a trust fund worth hundreds of millions of euros. But rather than trying to bribe the deputy AG with money, it simply agreed not to respond when he sued one of its clients. Erotokritou's claim sought to have Neocleous' client, a bank, write off €500,000 of personal loans it had made to him. Both sides fulfilled their sides of the deal, until it all unraveled.
This week the Cypriot court said that it was "not convinced" by Panayiotis Neocleous’ claim that his secretary had simply misread the court summons relating to Erotokritou's claim against the bank. It pointed out that Neocleous had maintained for two years that he was responsible for the error because he instructed his secretary to file the document in the wrong case file, and had only changed his testimony in court.
A source told RollOnFriday that the 130-lawyer firm was the "go-to local counsel for Magic Circle work out of Moscow". A spokeswoman for Allen & Overy said that it had referred some work to Neocleous & Co and a spokesman for Clifford Chance confirmed that the firm was "discussing the issue with clients as appropriate". A spokesman for Freshfields said that it had not worked with Neocleous & Co. Although RollOnFriday understands that, wisely, it has put in place a ban on its lawyers referring any work to the firm, just in case.
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Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC is Cyprus's largest law firm and has offices in Moscow, Brussels, Kiev, Prague and Budapest. A number of major UK law firms are understood to routinely refer work to it. But probably not for much longer.
Neocleous & Co and one of its partners, Panayiotis Neocleous, bribed Cyprus' then deputy attorney-general Rikkos Erotokritou to bring a criminal prosecution against a Russian consortium. The firm had been engaged for years in a court battle with the Russian group for control of a trust fund worth hundreds of millions of euros. But rather than trying to bribe the deputy AG with money, it simply agreed not to respond when he sued one of its clients. Erotokritou's claim sought to have Neocleous' client, a bank, write off €500,000 of personal loans it had made to him. Both sides fulfilled their sides of the deal, until it all unraveled.
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This week the Cypriot court said that it was "not convinced" by Panayiotis Neocleous’ claim that his secretary had simply misread the court summons relating to Erotokritou's claim against the bank. It pointed out that Neocleous had maintained for two years that he was responsible for the error because he instructed his secretary to file the document in the wrong case file, and had only changed his testimony in court.
A source told RollOnFriday that the 130-lawyer firm was the "go-to local counsel for Magic Circle work out of Moscow". A spokeswoman for Allen & Overy said that it had referred some work to Neocleous & Co and a spokesman for Clifford Chance confirmed that the firm was "discussing the issue with clients as appropriate". A spokesman for Freshfields said that it had not worked with Neocleous & Co. Although RollOnFriday understands that, wisely, it has put in place a ban on its lawyers referring any work to the firm, just in case.
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“The imposition of punishments on Panayiotis Neocleous and our firm are the latest steps in a travesty of justice that continued for more than two years and culminated in a harsh and unjustified verdict which, unprecedentedly, took more than nine hours to deliver,” the law firm said.
“Like its initial verdict, the sentences the court imposed today are an affront to justice. But they are by no means the end of the matter. We shall seek justice by an appeal in the Supreme Court of Cyprus and, if necessary beyond. We shall not rest until this injustice is overturned and we are exonerated, however long it may take.”