Elizabeth Jones KC

Liz has spent much of her professional life dealing with fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and other wrongdoing.

Recent Cases

• Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley Family Trust – Devising and overseeing the execution of the strategy to deal with an international fraud in which the perpetrators obtained a default judgment in Kentucky. Litigation has ensued in Kentucky, New Zealand and Australia, including applications for orders preventing the defendant from leaving Australia and requiring him to give up his passport, anti-enforcement injunctions granted on the basis that the default judgment had been obtained by fraud, and orders for disclosure of assets and funding arrangements and for security for costs. In NZ: Jurisdiction judgment at [2023] NZHC 466 and in the CA at [2024] NZCA 48; final judgment on the basis of formal proof at [2023] NZHC 3260; final anti-enforcement injunctions were granted, damages for conspiracy were awarded and a purported assignment of the default judgment and the underlying cause of action was set aside on the basis that doing so was outwith the director/trustee’s powers; the formal proof judgment was (unsuccessfully) appealed to the Court of Appeal [2024] NZCA 609 and the Supreme Court [2025] NZSC 156. In Australia; judgment of Cooper J on the application to set aside the interlocutory anti-enforcement injunctions and the passport orders at [2023] QSC 215, Queensland Court of Appeal  [2024] QCA 201, committal judgment [2026].QSC 37
• Kea v Watson ([2023] EWHC 1830 (Ch) & ([2023] EWHC 1768 (Ch)) – Final award of equitable compensation for breach of fiduciary duty following the long running Spartan litigation, applying relevant principles in relation to apportionment and allocation of compensation recovered from proprietary claims and claims against third parties. Obtained orders protecting the confidentiality of the terms of some of the settlements involved with third parties which fell to be considered, drawing on principles allowing such protection where there is a real risk of harm through harassment.
• Kea v Watson [2020] EWHC 2599 (Ch) (liability) [2020] EWHC 2796 (Ch) (sentencing) – A 17 day committal application conducted remotely in April-May 2020 resulted in the defendant being sentenced to 4 months in prison.
• Glenn v Watson [2018] EWHC 2016 – Judgment for deceit, breach of fiduciary duty and bribery after a 3 month trial. The Claimant succeeded in obtaining interest at 6.5% compounded annually: [2018] EWHC Ch 2483 and [2019] 4 W.L.R. 145 (CA). Enforcement proceedings have included a claim to enforce against an associate which gave rise to an important decision on service out of enforcement claims at [2019] EWHC 309 (Ch) and on the appropriate test where a defendant sought to use money subject to a proprietary claim for legal fees: [2020] EWHC 472 (Ch). Other enforcement proceedings took place in Jersey and New Zealand.
• Glenn v Watson [2017] 4 WLR 48 – Waiver of confidentiality by referring to confidential communications in pleadings; whether party entitled to speak before trial to witnesses who were subject to a duty of confidentiality.
• Kanev-Lipinski v Lipinski [2016] EWHC 475 – Successfully set aside a freezing order obtained without notice.
• Conapro-Dena v Republic of Gambia [2016] (unreported) – Claim against the Republic of the Gambia defended on the grounds that a former ambassador had been bribed to procure the contract.
• Alhamrani v Alhamrani [2014] UKPC 37 – Upheld findings of dishonesty in relation to evidence given in the BVI court and previously in the courts of Saudi Arabia.
• 2011-12 – Claim against a trust company by former clients in relation to fraudulent conduct of former managing director. 28 party settlement on excellent terms achieved.
• Inter-Continental Bank v Akingbola [2011] EWHC 605 (Comm) – Fraud against bank by former Chief Executive.
• Alhamrani v Alhamrani [2009] JLR 301 – Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, forgery, perjury, suborning of witnesses and alteration of computers to prevent proper disclosure.
• Re Omar (a bankrupt) [2000] B.C.C. 434 – The long running Omar saga in which the wife and mistress of a deceased domiciled in Egypt defrauded the estate of approximately $10m, using the usual panoply of bearer shares and Panamanian and Liechtenstein entities; 2 separate actions, first against the wife and mistress and subsequently against a major bank for dishonest assistance.
• Acted as “counsel to the inquiry” in relation to the investigation carried out by Gavin Lightman QC (as he then was) into what had happened to money donated during the miners’ strike of 1984-5.