Kabir Sondhi > 9BR Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Kabir Sondhi

020 7489 2727 clerks@9brchambers.co.uk View profile

Position

Kabir has built a strong practice prosecuting and defending across a full range of criminal offences, with a growing specialism in fraud, white-collar, corporate, and other financial crime work. He is regularly instructed in cases (both alone and as a led junior) alleging serious and complex offending.

As well as being an experienced trial advocate, Kabir is instructed to advise individuals, corporates, and prosecutorial bodies in relation to investigations into offences such as fraud, money laundering, and bribery & corruption. He also undertakes work in relation to asset seizure and recovery, including restraint and confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Kabir is on the SFO Prosecution Advocates B Panel, the CPS General Crime Panel (Level 3), the CPS Specialist Fraud Panel (Level 3), the CPS Serious Crime Panel (Level 3), and the CPS POCA Panel (Level 2). He is qualified to accept instructions directly from clients through the Bar Council’s Public Access Scheme and is authorised to conduct litigation.

General Crime

Kabir prosecutes and defends in a diverse range of criminal matters, including those involving allegations of serious and organised offending, complicated legal and factual issues, and sensitive subject matter. Highlights include:

• Defending in cases of murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and blackmail involving gangs and “county lines” offending.
• Prosecuting terror suspects in cases involving consideration of PII and other sensitive material.
• Prosecuting and defending in large-scale drugs importation cases involving large amounts of communications evidence.
• Prosecuting protest cases involving novel law and detailed submissions on defendants’ rights under Articles 10 and 11 ECHR.
• Prosecuting and defending in cases involving vulnerable witnesses and defendants, including trials for sexual offences.
• Advising defendants on issues surrounding entrapment in drugs and child sex cases.
• Defending in cases involving high-value money laundering and handling stolen goods.

Fraud, White-Collar, Corporate and Other Financial Crime

Kabir has particular experience in the prosecution and defence of complex and paper-heavy cases involving allegations of fraud, white-collar, and other financial offences committed by both corporates and individuals – most significantly bribery & corruption offences. His experience includes the provision of advice during the investigation and pre-charge stage. Highlights include:

• Acting for the Serious Fraud Office in a large-scale, multi-jurisdictional investigation / prosecution of a major British company for bribery & corruption offences, culminating in a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
• Undertaking an internal investigation of a company accused of misconduct in relation to a high-value public contract.
• Advising foreign lawyers with regard to the potential criminal liability of their client for cross-frontier offending arising from international business dealings.
• Prosecuting in a multi-handed case involving conspiracies to commit fraud and associated conspiracies to launder the proceeds, committed by an Organised Crime Group.
• Defending in multi-handed cases of complex fraud, cheating the revenue, fraudulent trading, and associated money laundering (prosecuted variously by the Crown Prosecution Service, Trading Standards, and HMRC).
• Advising suspects at pre-charge stage in relation to investigations for fraud and other offences, including advice on Restraint Orders, Production Orders, and RIPA notices.
• Prosecuting and defending high-value Confiscation Order proceedings (and variations) involving nuanced issues relating to the calculation of benefit and the realisation of assets.
• Multiple years’ experience working with SFO case teams on large-scale investigations into complex, multi-jurisdictional fraud, and bribery & corruption offences.

Civil and Judicial Review

In addition to criminal work, Kabir has experience in discrete areas of civil law and judicial review, including applications for injunctions before the High Court and actions for breach of privacy / misuse of confidential information.

Other

Prior to practice, Kabir worked in the judicial division of the International Criminal Court as intern to Lord Justice Fulford, during which he assisted in the preparation of the final judgment in the case of Prosecutor v. Lubanga (the first ever completed trial at the ICC). He maintains an interest in international criminal law. As a first six pupil, Kabir assisted the prosecution in the case of R v. Dobson and Norris (the murder of Stephen Lawrence) and as a third six pupil he was part of the defence team in R v. Adebolajo and Adebowale (the murder of Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks).

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