City lawyer Neil Gerrard of Dechert denies allegation he was ‘in rape mode’
A top City lawyer alleged to have told colleagues that he was going to “screw” his client for millions of pounds in fees has emphatically denied the claim, telling the High Court it was “utterly ridiculous”.
Kazakh mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is suing its former lawyer Neil Gerrard for allegedly leaking confidential information about the company while it was under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Gerrard and his old law firm Dechert worked for ENRC between 2011 and 2013, investigating allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower of bribery and corruption at one of its subsidiaries in Kazakhstan.
Dechert’s investigation later expanded to cover further allegations, including claims that ENRC’s subsidiary paid for a Kazakh police chief’s son’s university education and breached sanctions by trading with Iran.
SFO investigation
In April 2013, just weeks after Dechert was sacked as the company’s lawyers, the SFO opened a formal criminal inquiry into ENRC, which is ongoing and has not led to any criminal charges.
ENRC claims Dechert provided negligent advice while the “Machiavellian” Gerrard used the company as a “cash cow”, leaking information to the press and the SFO to prolong the investigation in order to make more money.
Gerrard, a former policeman turned white-collar crime lawyer, is alleged to have leaked confidential documents to a national newspaper, prompting a “damaging” story which triggered a formal letter to ENRC from the SFO.
The former FTSE 100 company also claims the SFO encouraged Gerrard to leak confidential information about ENRC, which is suing the watchdog for around £70m in damages.
Lawyers representing Gerrard and Dechert have previously told the High Court that ENRC’s claims are “an elaborate work of fiction” and that “the sheer nastiness of the attack on Gerrard smacks of vendetta”.
The SFO – which says it continues to carry out a criminal investigation into ENRC over “allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption around the acquisition of substantial mineral assets” – argues that the claim against it is “hopeless”.
High Court trial
The multimillion-pound High Court trial has heard allegations that Gerrard leaked ENRC’s confidential documents to The Times and then celebrated with a steak and champagne dinner.
Security consultant Cameron Findlay has given evidence that Gerrard then met him and a colleague in a west London restaurant, rubbed his hands together and said he was “in rape mode”.
Findlay also claims that Gerrard said he was going “screw these f****** for £25m” after the story was published.
But, giving evidence on Wednesday, Gerrard said the claim was “utterly ridiculous”, telling the court: “I have never said – ever, to anyone – that I was in rape mode or that I was going to screw anyone. I have never said that to anyone at any time.”
Clare Montgomery QC, representing ENRC, suggested to Gerrard that he had said he was “in rape mode” and was “going to make a lot money”.
Gerrard, who retired from Dechert at the end of last year, said: “Absolutely not.”
He added: “There is certainly no way that I am going to talk to a relative stranger and say that I’m in rape mode.”
Asked if he had said he would “screw these f******”, Gerrard replied: “Absolutely no way. It didn’t happen.”
Dechert and Gerrard’s lawyers have previously told the court that ENRC’s two witnesses to those alleged remarks, Findlay and computer forensics expert Robert Trevelyan, are “thoroughly deceitful”.
Gerrard will continue his evidence on Thursday and is expected to return to the witness box for two more days from next Monday.
The trial, which is being heard at the Rolls Building in London and is being livestreamed to the Royal Courts of Justice, is expected to finish in September.