Paul Wainwright
Partner
Birmingham
paul.wainwright@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)121 237 4577
Paul is head of the counter fraud and intelligence team and joint head the fraud and financial crime practice area. Paul is responsible for fraud or financial crime investigations and asset tracing, civil fraud recoveries and financial related regulatory compliance investigations and advice.
Paul’s main areas of interest include early intervention through interim injunctions and disclosure orders, investigations, asset recovery through litigation and deterrence by prosecution.
Having a wide practice area covering all sectors he regularly acts for clients in the finance, corporate, education, retail, fintech, health, charity and construction sectors. His clients appreciate his forensic approach combined with an ability to simplify complex issues, his approachability, and understanding of their business and organisation’s values.
His extensive knowledge of insurance fraud in defending suspected fraudulent claims and investigating claims fraud for insurer clients has led to notable successes with findings of fundamental dishonesty as well as prosecutions for contempt of court.
Paul is also a strategic partner for clients and the commercial insurance team handling suspect first- and third-party claims, policy indemnity and FOS complaints based on fraud or business crime.
In addition, Paul advises on anti-fraud, bribery and corruption policy and risk management, supply chain due diligence, and regularly conducts independent investigations around compliance and governance issues. He has a growing practice of client organisations whose losses are attributable to cyber-enabled fraud and cryptocurrencies.
Clients also make use of the counter fraud team’s intelligence support to validate claims or identify dishonesty or wrongdoing but also in identifying and locating misappropriated assets, bad actors or their associates. Paul’s work is underpinned by OSINT intelligence, and he has close working relationships with forensic specialist accountants and e-disclosure teams as well as Counsel.
Paul is a member of the Special Advisory Panel for the Fraud Advisory Board and the Fraud Sector Focus Team at FOIL (Forum of Insurance Lawyers) and speaks at industry events on matters including fraud, financial crime and cyber-enabled fraud. Paul has a master’s degree in Counter Fraud and Counter Corruption from the University of Portsmouth.
Expertise
Featured experience
Misuse of private information
Engaged by high-profile individual to protect personal and family reputation from threat of blackmail and misuse of private information. Engaged with specialist counsel and concluded with effective cease and desist letter, without court proceedings. Â
Sanctions advice
Construction client with major project in London discovered potential link to prohibited country on HM Treasury EU and OFAC sanctions list requiring due diligence and advice on project risk and extraction without penalty to avoid sanctions breach and damage to reputation. Â
CEO fraud – successful recovery
Our charity client brought a civil fraud claim against its former CEO after a successful police prosecution failed to deliver its losses under POCA. The case was defended and went to trial and the CEO was found in breach of his fiduciary duties, and full recovery was made of the trust’s losses.Â
Romance fraud advice
Harmonie Group referral via our UK Lloyd’s insurance team led to extensive investigation into global online romance and investment fraud which had caused client significant losses. Investigations revealed global scale of the fraud and the use of false identities online, and saved client significant funds.
Testimonials
"Once we flagged two claims as potentially fraudulent they acted quickly, securing intel and enabling us to fight the case. Convictions have also been pursued via private prosecution." 
"Paul Wainwright is the partner that has handled a couple of our fraud claims. It is undoubted that Paul is a leader within this field and the work undertaken is of the highest order."
"Paul Wainwright proved highly conscientious and determined. Great eye for detail and consistently correctly second-guessed a tricky and dishonest claimant so that he was unable to exploit either the court process or his litigant-in-person status."
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