Criminal law, compliance and sanctions
The flagship business defence practice, built on the logic of "before, during and after a crisis": prevention of criminal law and sanctions risk (compliance), defence during searches, proceedings and investigations (White Collar Crime), and work on the consequences - from lifting asset freezes to delisting.
Why businesses choose this PROCTOR practice
Criminal proceedings against a business are never only a criminal case. They affect corporate governance, financial stability, banking services, international contracts, the reputation of the company and the personal safety of its owners and managers.
That is why PROCTOR has built its criminal practice as a system of comprehensive business defence.
We do not limit ourselves to taking part in investigative actions or court hearings. Our team works at the same time on preserving assets, restoring operations, defending officers, minimising tax and corporate risk, building effective communication with state authorities and preventing new threats.
Our approach is based on prevention, strategic planning and the comprehensive management of legal risk. This is why PROCTOR clients receive not only defence counsel, but a strategic legal adviser who keeps the business running even in the most difficult crises.
Defence in cases of misappropriation of property and fictitious entrepreneurship
Defence in proceedings under Articles 191, 190 and 205-1 of the Criminal Code and related offences. Rebutting the theory of criminal intent put forward by the investigation and proving that the business transactions were real.
Support during the questioning of witnesses and suspects
Preparation for questioning, participation of counsel in investigative actions, control over the accurate recording of testimony. Defence against the change of a procedural status from witness to suspect.
Criminal law risk audit of a business
Preventive diagnosis of business processes for criminal law risk: business transactions, document flow, relations with counterparties. The result is a risk map and a plan of action for the company in the event of a search or a summons for questioning.
Representing victims (asset recovery)
Protecting the interests of a business harmed by crime: misappropriation of property, fraud, abuse of office. Initiating criminal proceedings, civil claims within criminal proceedings, tracing and recovery of assets.
Lines of work
The services this practice runs.
- Challenging the seizure of assets and accountsPrompt lifting of seizures imposed in criminal proceedings on accounts, real estate, corporate rights and stock in trade. We prove that the seizure is disproportionate and that the property has no connection with the subject of the investigation.
- Compliance and internal investigationsBuilding the compliance function of a company and investigating breaches inside it: anti-corruption programmes under the Law on the Prevention of Corruption and the FCPA, UK Bribery Act and ISO 37001 standards, internal policies and whistleblowing channels, counterparty checks (KYC), investigations of fraud and abuse, staff training and support in dealings with NABU, the NACP and the State Bureau of Investigation.
- Criminal defence for business and senior managementComprehensive defence of the company, its owners and its managers at every stage, from the entry of information in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations to the hearing of the case in court. Our lawyers analyse the case file, build the line of defence and monitor compliance with procedural rights.
- Defence in tax evasion cases (Article 212 of the Criminal Code)Specialised defence in tax criminal proceedings: challenging the grounds for registering the proceedings, working with expert reports on the amount of the loss, closing cases at the pre-trial investigation stage, release from liability where the liabilities are paid.
- Responding to law enforcement requestsLegal analysis of requests from NABU, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Economic Security, the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine: assessing their lawfulness, determining the scope of the information the company is obliged to provide, and preparing legally sound answers that create no risk for the business.
- Sanctions practiceSupport for business on sanctions matters: screening counterparties and beneficiaries against the lists of the National Security and Defence Council, OFAC, the EU and the United Kingdom, assessing the risk of specific transactions and payments, internal sanctions policies and contractual clauses, challenging decisions of the National Security and Defence Council, delisting applications and defence in High Anti-Corruption Court cases on the recovery of assets to the state.
- Support during searches and investigative actionsLawyers travel to a search without delay, monitor the lawfulness of the investigators' actions, record breaches and protect documents and equipment from unjustified seizure. Afterwards we challenge search warrants and recover the seized property.
How we run the defence
The order of work from the first call after a search or a summons to the closing of the proceedings and the removal of its consequences.
01
Urgent contact and threat assessment
We take the call on the day of the search, the questioning or the summons, establish the procedural status of every person and the theory of the suspicion, and instruct the staff at once.
02
Case file and risk audit
We study the court rulings, the notices of suspicion, the seized documents and the register data. We draw a risk map: assets, accounts, corporate control, officers.
03
Defence strategy
We agree the line of defence with the owner, the roles inside the team and the scenarios the case may follow. It is fixed in writing: actions, deadlines and the documents we prepare.
04
Work in the proceedings
We take part in investigative actions and questioning, file motions, challenge search and seizure rulings, and work with expert reports and the disclosure of the file.
05
Court hearing and closing
We run the case in court or press for the proceedings to be closed at the pre-trial stage. In parallel we lift seizures and recover the seized property and documents.
06
Prevention after the crisis
Once the case is over we rebuild the processes that led to it: document flow, counterparty checks, the protocol for a search and training for the staff.
Formats of business defence
How far our lawyers are involved depends on the stage of the case and on the range of people the proceedings have touched.
A single procedural step
One episode of work: travelling to a search, support during questioning, drafting a motion or a complaint. You get a finished document and a lawyer beside you on the day.
Running the proceedings
Defence of one person or of the company in a specific case, from the suspicion to the verdict or the closing: investigative actions, motions, appeals and representation in court.
Standing defence for the group
A team is attached to the company, its owners and its managers: a duty line in case of a search, compliance, sanctions screening and the running of every set of proceedings.
The industries we do it in
The sectors of business this practice works in from the first day.
Cases of the practice
Results in matters run by PROCTOR lawyers.
9 days
Freeze on the accounts lifted in proceedings against a counterparty
The accounts of the company were frozen in criminal proceedings opened against its counterparty. A motion to the investigating judge lifted the freeze in nine days, and the company returned to paying its suppliers without a break in deliveries.
48 hours
Shipment at the elevator unblocked
A lawyer attended the investigative actions and the seizure of the sunflower consignment was lifted.
