Dechert and former partner Neil Gerrard sued for $100m over hacking claims
How Gerrard’s accuser portrays the lawyer (yet to be confirmed in a court of law). Dechert has been named as a defendant in a $100m claim thanks to a pesky former partner who has already cost the firm £20m and counting.
International law firm Dechert has been named as a defendant in a $100m claim alleging that its former head of white crime, Neil Gerrard, used cyber mercenaries to hack the emails of Farhad Azima, an Iranian-American aviation mogul who lives in Kansas City, RollonFriday reports today (21 October).
Gerrard, a former policeman who was Dechert’s head of white collar crime, was instructed by the UAE sheikhdom Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) to investigate allegations the former head of its Investment Authority was engaged in fraud.
As the scope of Dechert’s investigation under Gerrard expanded, it encompassed Karem Al Sadeq, the Investment Authority’s former legal advisor, who said that as a result of the probe he was wrongfully arrested and incarcerated in a UAE prison. Al Sadeq is suing Dechert, Gerrard and other partners in a separate claim and alleges that he was blindfolded and tied to a chair while Gerrard interrogated him.
You can read the article in full using the link above. A spokesperson for Dechert told RollOnFriday: “The claim against the firm is denied and will be defended”.
The link to the claim, which is being brought in The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, is here: https://www.scribd.com/document/601742077/Dechert-Gerrard
The High Court has previously ruled that Gerrard committed deliberate acts of wrongdoing in relation to the fees he generated while conducting a probe into corruption at ENRC mining conglomerate. That extremely lengthy judgment is here:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ENRC-v-Dechert-judgment-160521.pdf