Aaron Watkins

Aaron is an established junior in all areas of white-collar crime and associated practice areas. He is consistently ranked as a leading junior in fraud, business and regulatory crime (including global investigations) and extradition and international crime. Most recently Aaron (instructed by Baker McKenzie LLP and led by Tom Allen KC) secured the acquittal on an allegation of corruption of the first defendant in one of the Serious Fraud Office’s most long running and high-profile investigations concerning allegations of corruption.

Aaron’s practice frequently involves cross-border criminal issues including multi-jurisdictional investigations, sanctions and Interpol notices. He has experience of criminal cases, including those with crossover civil dimensions, involving diverse jurisdictions, in particular the USA, Russia, Ukraine, France, Monaco, the Middle East and a number of Caribbean countries. The multi-jurisdictional nature of Aaron’s work is complemented by his market leading expertise in the areas of extradition and mutual legal assistance. Aaron is consistently ranked as a leading junior in these fields.

Aaron has been appointed by the Attorney General as a Special Advocate. He also has niche practices representing individuals challenging search warrants, production orders and other investigative measures. He represents individuals before specialist tribunals such as the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and SIAC.

Aaron’s current and recent cases include:

• Securing the acquittal of an ex-company director accused of bribery by the SFO
• Staying a high value conspiracy to defraud prosecution as an abuse of process
• Acting for a defendant in the Credit Suisse ‘Tuna Bond scandal’
• Advising a leading construction company under investigation in connection with ‘cash for contracts’ allegations
• Advising a multinational tobacco corporation concerning potential money laundering exposure
• Advising a multinational oil and gas corporation as an interested party in confiscation proceedings
• Acting for an individual in the SFO’s long running GlaxoSmithKline investigation
• Acting for a trust to discharge the registration of an overseas restraint order under ‘Protocol 36’ regulations
• Acting for a potential defendant in connection with a request for assistance by overseas investigators regarding alleged theft of intellectual property the subject of overlapping Chancery proceedings in the UK
• Acting in a conspiracy to defraud case regarding the violation of US-Iran sanctions
• Acting for the Indian government in the highly publicised India v Mallya fraud and money laundering litigation
• Acting for the first defendant in Sweden’s largest pension fraud
• Acting for the US government in the well-known ‘Flash Crash’ market abuse ‘spoofing’ case