NEWS
Benjamin Waidhofer and James Partridge defend in multi-million-pound illegal money lending case
Benjamin Waidhofer, and James Partridge, instructed by Rohit Sharma and Deepak Vij at ABV solicitors were instructed to represent a husband and wife charged with running an illegal money lending business with a total turnover said to be in the region of £2.5 million.
Following an anonymous tip-off to the illegal money lending team made on 22 July 2018, the home address of the defendants was the target of a search warrant executed on 22 October 2019. The defendants were later summonsed to court for a series of offences and primarily charged with illegal money lending over the course of a 10-year period, lending in excess of £2 million and collecting close to £500,000 in interest.
Following submissions at sentence made by Benjamin Waidhofer and James Partridge, HHJ Coello at the Kingston Crown Court imposed a suspended sentence on both defendants, with confiscation proceedings dealt with at the very same time.
The case was reported including at:
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/mitcham-loan-sharks-70s-handed-28711681
The case was prosecuted by Birmingham City Council, which operates the England Illegal Money Lending Team. The proprietary of local authorities to bring prosecutions of this nature was specifically considered by the Court of Appeal in R v AUH and others [2022] EWCA Crim 1113, [2023] 1 Cr App R 9 and, in respect of illegal money lending in particular, in R v AUH and others [2023] EWCA Crim 6, [2023] 1 Cr App R 17.
Benjamin Waidhofer and James Partridge are frequently sought out to advise upon the most high-profile cases of considerable factual and legal complexity which straddle the criminal/civil jurisdiction. They specialise in representing both private individuals and corporations alike in allegations of substantial financial impropriety such as illegal money lending and further specialise in defending allegations brought by private prosecutors such as local authorities or trading standards. Any queries about this matter, or any other, ought to be addressed to