White-collar crime

An allegation against a managing person usually concerns not the substance of the decision itself, but whether it fell within that person's powers and whether the duties connected with them were performed. In complex structures, even the starting point is often disputed: who was actually responsible for a given area and who took the decisions covered by the case.

• allegations of the abuse of powers or of a failure to perform duties in handling the property matters or the business activity of a company or another entity;
• business or property decisions with which the authorities connect the occurrence of loss or the immediate danger of causing it;
• a disputed division of competences and responsibility between managing persons, and the scope of the information and opinions available when the decisions were taken;
• acts or omissions of members of the company's bodies, of managers and of other persons responsible for a particular area of the business.

A commercial matter does not become a criminal matter merely because one of the parties has failed to perform a contract, has not paid an amount due or has caused a loss. If, however, the proceedings concern the way a benefit was obtained, the use of assets, the truthfulness of documents or the information given to the other party, a separate assessment under criminal law is required.

• allegations of fraud connected with a contract, a transaction or another commercial relationship;
• misappropriation or the unauthorised use of property entrusted in connection with the business's activity;
• the forgery or falsification of a document, or the use of a document whose authenticity is being challenged;
• certification of an untruth and unreliable declarations made in commercial dealings;
• failure to keep the documentation required for a business activity, or an allegation that it has been kept unreliably;
• the destruction, removal or concealment of documentation, or otherwise depriving others of access to it;
• invoices and other transaction documents — both their content and the way they were used;
• representation of an aggrieved company in a matter concerning its assets or documentation.

The subject matter of these cases is usually the documents and information submitted in order to obtain financing, support, an instrument or another benefit. Later difficulty in performing an obligation does not in itself answer the question whether the conduct at the stage of applying for the funds was proper.

• credit, a loan, a surety, a guarantee, a letter of credit or other financing obtained on the basis of documents or declarations that are being challenged;
• grants, subsidies and other forms of public support — both the way they were obtained and their subsequent use and settlement;
• documents and information submitted when applying for a payment instrument;
• documentation or declarations used when applying for a public contract or another benefit covered by the proceedings;
• financial, business and other information provided to the entity taking the decision on the financing or support;
• the role of the persons responsible for preparing, approving or submitting the documentation.

Insolvency in itself, or a declaration of bankruptcy, does not yet determine criminal liability. Not every act performed during financial difficulties is of the same character — the assessment is determined by its purpose, the moment at which it was performed and its effect on the prospects of satisfying the creditors.

• the concealment, disposal, encumbrance, transfer of assets or other acts relating to assets, assessed from the perspective of the prospects of satisfying the creditors;
• allegations connected with bringing about insolvency or bankruptcy;
• acts performed in the period preceding insolvency or during it;
• transactions and dispositions of assets challenged as having been made to the detriment of creditors;
• satisfying or securing selected creditors at the expense of the others;
• financial documentation from the period covered by the case, making it possible to assess the actual situation of the business;
• the defence of a client whose decisions concerning assets are the subject of the proceedings, or the representation of an injured creditor.

This group covers matters whose common element is a criminal allegation connected with the course of a particular commercial activity, with the flow of funds or with the functioning of the financial market.

• collusion, obstruction or other irregularities concerning a tender, an auction or procurement proceedings;
• corruption allegations connected with business activity, including in public procurement and in relations with public authorities — both in defence and on the side of an aggrieved company;
• money laundering, the origin and onward flow of funds, and the transactions and documents that the authorities connect with concealing their origin, ownership or intended use;
• criminal matters concerning financial instruments and trading in securities;
• allegations of the use or unlawful disclosure of inside information;
• allegations of market manipulation — concerning the transactions concluded, the orders placed or the information disseminated;
• criminal proceedings commenced following a notification by the supervisory authority, or conducted in parallel with its activities.

The scope of the work depends on the client's status and on the stage the matter has reached. The same problem looks different before the first questioning, different after charges have been presented, and different on the injured party's side.

• a consultation before the first questioning, or after receiving a summons or information about proceedings under way;
• assistance with a search, a demand for the handing over of documents, the seizure of items or other first activities of the authorities;
• assistance in connection with the detention of a person and with the imposition, modification or lifting of preventive measures;
• assistance in matters concerning security on assets imposed in the course of the proceedings;
• analysis of the case material, establishing the line of defence, and preparation of pleadings and evidentiary motions;
• defence of a suspect or an accused person in preparatory proceedings and before the court, and also in appeal proceedings;
• assessment of the material gathered and — where it justifies further steps — preparation of a notification;
• representation on the injured party's side in preparatory proceedings and — as appropriate to its procedural status — at the court stage, as well as in challenging a refusal to commence proceedings or their discontinuance;
• assistance in matters concerning the liability of a company or another collective entity for a prohibited act connected with its activity.