In our latest ‘meet the expert’ feature, Helen Gregory, Forensic Director, answers a few questions about her role and shares what cases she is currently working on.
Tell us about your role
I am a Director in the Forensic Accounting team at Milsted Langdon. This means I act as an expert witness or adviser in relation to matters involving accountancy and potential court hearings which can include valuing owner managed businesses for divorce proceedings, analysing bank accounts in fraud investigation or assessing profit trends for loss of profit cases.
Your forensic team is nationally renowned, what cases stand out for you or have been a particular highlight?
Two cases in particular stand out for me. Last year I gave evidence in Bristol Crown Court on behalf of the police in a matter involving an individual accused of fraud after he “invested” the proceeds of his mother in law’s house sale which should have gone towards her care following a diagnosis of dementia. He was found guilty.
I was also the expert on behalf of the National Crime Agency in an unexplained wealth order matter against a member of the Azerbaijani elite which resulted in a settlement.
What are you working on at the moment that you can talk about?
My workload is always varied, but there are three I can talk about:
I have just finished assisting an academy looking at the tendering process adopted by one of the school site managers to determine whether the process was being fixed. This followed on from providing assistance in an employment tribunal of one of the accounts’ team at a different school.
I am currently assisting the wife of someone found guilty of VAT fraud. She is accused of having used the proceeds of the fraud to buy a property and is subject to proceedings by her now ex-husband’s trustees in bankruptcy and confiscation proceedings.
I am also assisting in the defence of an individual who is accused of running a Ponzi scheme with the funds spent on gambling rather than being invested as advised.
What else are you involved in?
I am chair of the Network of Independent Forensic Accounts (NIFA), the treasurer of the South West Fraud Forum and I also sit on one of the committees at the Academy of Expert. As chair of NIFA, I am responsible for running regular training sessions for the members and in recruiting potential new members.
This is interesting and varied as we plan the sessions and find speakers for our events so it’s something different to my role as director in the Forensic Accounting team. By being involved in three separate but similar organisations, it is a good opportunity to share the experiences of each of the memberships.