RISC Management

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RISC Management was a private security and intelligence company controlled by former Metropolitan Police officer Keith Hunter, established in 2005 from the London branch of ISC Global. It ceased to operate in January 2014, though Hunter and other key staff went on to form Animus Associates.[1][2][3]

RISC Management has been embroiled in a number of scandals around corruption, bribing police officers and eavesdropping, though none of the staff were ever convicted.

See also:

Keith Hunter RISC-ISC Global company network
Nigel Brown ISC Global
Clifford Knuckey Animus Associates
Anthony Brightwell Mayfayre
Alec Leighton


History

RISC Management's predecessor company, ISC Global was founded in 2000 when lawyer Stephen Curtis brought together to former Metropolitan Police detectives Nigel Brown and Keith Hunter who had been working as private investigators. Curtis was a lawyer and key agent for Russian oligarchs in exile fighting to keep control of the oil giant Yukos. Curtis needed a company that would carry out security, risk management and due dilligence on behalf of the oligarchs. The company went on to recruit several more leading detectives such as Anthony Brightwell.

In 2004, after Curtis died in a helicopter crash (thought by some to have been deliberate), there was a falling out between Brown and Hunter. The former took over the Israel based operations (renamed GSS Global Security), while Hunter acquired control of the London based operations. He renamed the group of companies RISC, with RISC Management Ltd being the lead company of a network of interlocking firms. They continued from the same address (1 Cavendish Place) from October 2005 onwards.[4][5] Clifford Knuckey was appointed as Managing Director and Operations Director[5][6], Tony Brightwell having left within two months. Including administrative staff, there were around 20 people in the company according to Hunter, with 14 or 15 in the operations team.[3][7]

The company effectively ceased as a business at the start of 2014, when an administrator was appointed.[8] though many of the staff and directors, including Keith Hunter, went on to form a new venture in the same line of business, Animus Associates.

Activities

RISC prefered to operate in the background, and what is known about the company has come out through inquiries and court cases.

A key source of information is the public inquiry into the death of the exiled Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko. He had been working with the company in 2006 (see below), and after he had been poisoned with radioactive material he had visited the RISC offices - traces of Polonium-210 were subsequently found at their offices. This lead to Hunter being called as a witness to the Litvinenko Inquiry.[9][5]

Hunter explained that RISC was engaged in security, risk management, due diligence & financial services, personal protection and counter-surveillance. His role was generating clients and introducing them to the relevant individuals within the company, who could meet their needs, either in-house or through sub-contractors.[5] It was the role of the Managing Director to allocating the actual operational work.[3]

Police corruption

2006: The Gary Flood affair

In 2006, CEO Keith Hunter was implicated in a corruption case involving the Metropolitan Police, known as the "Gary Flood affair".[10]

The case started with the Met's anti-corruption squad receiving a dossier from someone within the company when it was still ISC Global. It detailed payments of £20,000 to a police officer codenamed Noah in exchange for confidential information concerning Russia’s attempts to extradite one of the company's clients, Boris Berezovsky. A first investigation focused on DS Gary Flood, an officer with the Extradition Unit and a friend of 25 years standing to Hunter. He was arrested in May 2006, but the Department of Professional Standards' DCI Gary Crump failed to find any evidence to show that Flood was 'Noah' or that he was involved in selling information.[11] No charges or disciplinary measures were pressed, and Flood returned to duties at the Extradition Unit.

After the case was closed, DS Flood started a libel case against The Times and Micheal Gillard's detailed report identifying him as a suspect. The Supreme Court eventually decided that the newspaper was entitled to apply the Reynolds' Defence and thus had been allowed to name Flood in the article.[12]

2007: 'Cash for honours' scandal

The Met set up its own anti-corruption investigation into the relationship between RISC and officers working in SCD6, the economic and specialist crime division of the force, according to revelations in The Telegraph in October 2016.[13] SCD6 has investigated some of the country’s most high-profile and sensitive criminal cases including the 'cash for honours' probe into whether Tony Blair’s government had offered peerages to big donors and the MPs’ expenses scandal.

In 2007, the Met’s Intelligence Development Group (IDG) – a covert arm of the anti-corruption squad - launched an inquiry into RISC’s apparent attempt to corrupt the honours probe, code named 'Operation Bartonia'. According to leaked files The Telegraph has seen:[13]

More than 300 phone calls were made between Met police officers and RISC investigators over a 12-month period.
In one instance a police officer was given a “dirty” mobile phone by RISC so he could secretly report back what he found, the report states.
The Scotland Yard probe appeared to involve bugging and following RISC operatives meeting serving police officers and secretly monitoring their work computers, phone records and access to sensitive databases to check for evidence of leaks.

The files show how the IDG had information that 'indicate[d]' serving police officers were providing RISC with information on the political probe. One document states how “intelligence indicates that on May 2, 2007, an employee of RISC received information from a [senior fraud detective]”. RISC also got the names of three suspects in cash for honours probe, and whether they were going to be charged by the CPS or not. The investigators assumed that RISC had been hired by Sir Christopher Evans, a prominent Labour donor who had been arrested as part of the honours inquiry. Still according to The Telegraph,[13]

The Scotland Yard documents say that the firm was hired to “review” the police’s criminal file, and that RISC then offered to “find some dirt”.

There is no evidence that Sir Christopher instructed the firm to work on the case or was aware of its activities. Evans was arrested but not charged as a result of the honours probe. However, his company, Merlin Biosciences, was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) at the same time as assistant commissioner John Yates was leading the Yard’s honours probe. A spokesman for Merlin said that the company had hired RISC Management to do commercial due diligence for a few healthcare projects in Qatar and the Middle East; none of these involved any contact with the Metropolitan Police.[13]

The secret operation lasted until RISC went into administration in January 2014. Bartonia later became part of a wider operation, codenamed Limonium, run by undercover anti-corruption officers who were examining RISC’s contacts with other specialist crime squads at Scotland Yard[14] It is unclear what happened to all the intelligence gathered.[13]

2007 - 2016: James Ibori

In 2012 the Metropolitan Police raided RISC Management as part of a major corruption investigation - Operation Limonium. CEO Hunter and director Knuckey were suspected of bribing police officers in exchange for information about the case against one of their clients, James Ibori.

Ibori, former governor of the oil-rich Delta State region in Nigeria, had been investigated by the Met's Proceeds of Corruption Unit (SCD6) and charged with fraud and money-laundering in 2007. His conviction in 2012 for embezzlement after admitting the laundering of nearly £150 million, was a major victory for the specialised police team.

Ibori's lawyers, Speechly Bircham, had hired RISC Management to support his defense.[6][9][15] RISC was also hired, at the same time, to advise on the case of Ibori's former lawyer Bhadresh Gohil - on trial for running a part of Ibori's money laundering schemes.[16][9]

The bribe investigation was triggered by a set of invoices anonymously sent to the Met and Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in 2011, detailing payments of £20,000 to SCD6 detectives between 2006 and 2008.[17][18] This lead to RISC directors Hunter and Knuckey being arrested in May 2012 on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt a police officer, perverting the course of justice and money-laundering.[19] Those arrested denied all the allegations, claiming that Bhadresh Gohil was the whistleblower and that he had fabricated the invoices to assist an appeal against the seven-year sentence he received in 2011 for money-laundering.[17]

It was also revealed that one of the SCD6 officers, Gary Walters, had gone on to join RISC Management, being with the firm in 2012.[16][20] - though in a written statement to Parliament, RISC denied this, saying Walters provided only six days work over two years for the company.[21]

After more than two years, in July 2014, the Metropolitan Police finished their investigation into Ibori's dealings with RISC and the claims of bribing police. Unexpectedly, charges against RISC CEO Hunter were dropped, while instead former RISC managing director Clifford Knuckey was charged with five accounts of theft. The police having switched the basis of their investigation to it being Knuckey who had provided 'false, misleading or deceptive invoices' to bill Ibori's lawyers for alleged payments (totaling £11,500[22]) to his confidential sources within the police.[9] At the same time prosecutors also charged Gohil with perverting the course of justice on the grounds he was behind 'false allegations that officers of the Metropolitan Police had received corrupt payments from Risc Management Ltd'.[9]

In January 2016, the case against Knuckey and Gohil collapsed when the Crown Prosecution Service withdrawing the case, apparently on having received new evidence. Gohil's lawyer, Stephen Kamlish QC argued that Gohil had been prosecuted in 'bad faith' as part of an attempt by the Metropolitan Police to cover up corruption in their own ranks. Among the evidence cited is that between 2006 and 2012 there had been 120 phonecalls between RISC Managment and police officers, and that a similar amount of payments had been made by the company in that period.[22]

Larger numbers of contacts were revealed in the 'cash for honours' scandal, see below.

Paying sources

RISC has always denied it would pay for police information. Just before he was arrested in 2012, CEO Hunter told the Guardian:[15]

RISC Management does not need to pay serving police officers for confidential information as we pride ourselves on our ability to provide positive solutions and accurate information legitimately. RISC Management has a highly respected reputation for conducting professional investigations...[RISC Management] was proud to have a network of highly professional consultants, contacts and resources. These individuals are hired precisely because of their unique skill set and expertise.

Other sources were paid for intelligence, the most notable of whom being Alexander Litvinenko.

Alexander Litvinenko

As noted above, RISC worked with Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian security officer then living in exile in London. As a dissident he provided intelligence on Russian political and business figures, and collaborated with various security services. Hunter was first introduced to Litvinenko around 2001/2002 by Boris Berezovsky, a key client of RISC's pre-decessor ISC Global.

In 2006, Litvinenko was asked by RISC Management to provide intelligence on Russian agricultural minister Alexei Gordiev and his associates. The client was the SPI Group (formerly known as Soyuzplodoimport) owned by Yuri Shefler, and the issue was Gordiev's involvement in a dispute over the ownership of the recipe for Stolichnaya vodka.[5][23]

From February 2006 onwards, an RISC employee, Daniel Quirke, met with Litvinenko five or six times, seeking information to be used in a court case in The Hague against the Russian government. At one point Quirke also met with Andrei Lugovoi, a source of Litvinenko, who was subsequently implicated in Litvinenko's murder (and who at one point accused RISC of involvement in the murder[24]). RISC paid Lugovoi £7,500 for a disc of low grade intelligence in order to maintain RISC's relationship with Litvinenko; the company claimed they had declined to pay Litvinenko for other material he provided as it was too low grade.

Both Hunter and Quirke gave evidence in the inquiry into Litvinenko's death, and Hunter confirmed that well-connected sources such as Litvinenko could be paid tens of thousands of pounds in return for intelligence, generally in cash in order to protect anonymity of the source.[23]

List of paid sources

Following the police raids on RISC Management's offices in the wake of the Ibori investigation, anti-corruption police discovered reference to a list of paid confidential sources, including police and other officials. This list was held in Gibraltar where a companny called Risk Solutions was paid to keep the list secure. Investigative reporter Michael Gillard found out how the system worked:[17]

Cash from a well-known bureau de change is couriered to RISC's office and passed to a small group of senior executives who run and pay confidential sources. Each source has a codename, for example T43, but only a few RISC executives know their real identity, which is recorded on the list.

According to Gillard's reporting, RISC set up the system in 2006 to deal with the issue of large cash payments to unidentified sources should there be an official investigation into the company.[17] In that context, it is of note that both the Gary Flood case and the Ibori bribing allegations focused on alleged payments made in 2006 and thereafter.

In 2012 the police were seeking to force RISC to hand over the list.[17] While, in his 2013 witness statement to the Inquiry Hunter also said: 'The use of confidential sources was and still is an integral part of RISC's business', either to gather information or to effect introductions for a client. Informants were paid for the services provided, in cash or by money transfer. In particular he stated that 'for the safety of the individual' audit trails were avoided.[5]

Clients

Russian clients inherited from ISC Global

RISC inherited various Russia connected clients from ISC Global, including the oil giant Yukos (and associated oligarchs such as Berezovsky), First Curacao International Bank[25] and Altus Investment (through their lawyer Patrick de Vink).[5]

Another client of RISC was Wiggin Osborne Fullerlove, an English law firm specialising in international tax that looked after the interests of the Menatap Group. The Group was controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Leonid Nevzlin - also clients of ISC Global - as part of the off-shore network they used to dominate Yukos at the time.[26] Hunter described himself as having a good working relationship with Tim Osborne, senior partner at Wiggin Osborne[5] and Managing Director of Group Menatep.[27]

Michael Cherney (2007)

RISC Management were hired by the leading city lawyer John Fordham, head of commercial litigation at the firm of Stephenson Harwood[28]) on behalf of his client, Russian oligarch Michael Cherney (Mikhail Chernoy). This was part of Cherney's dispute with fellow oligarch Oleg Deripaska over shareholdings in UC RusAl, the Russian aluminum giant. Cherney had placed Deripaska under surveillance to prove that the latter used his house in Belgravia as his main residence, so allowing a court case under UK law (which requires at least one party in a litigation to reside in Britain). Several firms were used with RISC management providing advice to the operation.[29] The work appears to have been successful as the case was heard in court in London in 2011, despite a longstanding Interpol warrent being out for Cherney on grounds of money laundering.[30] Cherney is an associated of Berezovsky, and lives in the same area of Jerusulam, Herzlia Pituakh as another ISC Global client, Leonard Nevzlin.[31]

Mischon de Reya

In 2013, Mischon de Reya confirmed it had hired RISC Management as one of various private investigation firms used primarily for 'asset tracing and counterfeiting investigations'.[32][33]

Blyumkin

2013 Legal papers point at an otherwise unknown case, Blyumkin v Risc Management: 'a dispute concerning allegations of computer hacking and misuse of confidential information.'[34][35] The Blyumkin in question is thought to be Paul Blyumkin, the Chief Operating Officer of Salford Capital Partners, which invests in Eastern European and Caucasian businesses and has other links to the network of business people around RISC / ISC Global.[36]

England's 2018 World Cup bid

In 2010, England football officials hired RISC to spy on rival football bodies and to ensure that the English 2018 World Cup bid team was not spied on in turn.

This was revealed in The Telegraph, which cited sources close to the English as saying it was a 'fairly desperate attempt... The bid team were very keen to establish any information on foul play by other federations, but it all became very messy and basically ended up as a classic dirty tricks campaign.'[37] Information collected by RISC, ultimately did not help the England bid. England received just two votes despite a multi-million pound campaign involving the Prime Minister and Prince William.

Sahar Daftary

RISC was hired to investigate the unexplained December 2008 death of Sahar Daftary. The family website names Keith Hunter and David Flood as being the lead investigators.[38][39]

Sahar Daftary was a former Face of Asia beauty contest winner, who died after falling from the 12th floor of a building in Manchester. In 2012, the coroner returned an open verdict as it was not clear whether Sahar had been unlawfully killed, had taken her own life or that her death was an accident. She had married Altrincham-based businessman Rashid Jamil in an Islamic ceremony a year earlier, only to find out that he was already married and had two children with another woman. He was arrested on suspicion of the murder, but was later told by the Crown Prosecution Service he would face no charges.[40]

No news on the investigation has surfaced since.

People

Directors & Senior Management

Board of Directors[4][41]

  1. Keith Hunter, Chief Executive Officer
  2. Simon Patrick Hume-Kendall, non-executive director and chairman (2005-2013); finance, oil and shipping magnate, resort developer; Chair of Tunbridge Wells Conservative Party.[42]
  3. Paul Duffen, non-executive director (2007-2008, 2011-2013); prominent businessman, media entrepreneur and management consultant.[43]
  4. Stephen Miles Smith, non-executive director (2005-2013): a chartered accountant specialising in international taxation; founding director of CPC Group, a Guernsey based property developer.
  5. Col. Tim Collins, non-executive director (2007-2009): a noted SAS commander in Iraq and military consultant.
  6. Michael Mayhew-Arnold (2012-2014): a leading lawyer specialising in cross-border litigation, particularly in the financial field. From 1989 to 2009 he was with the Ansbacher Group, rising to senior executive level and General Counsel for the international banking, trusts and private wealth management conglomerate.[44]

Managing / Operations Directors

  • Anthony 'Tony' Brightwell: Managing Director of RISC in 2005 and before that with ISC Global from 2003. As a police officer with the Flying Squad he worked on the Brinks-Mat robbery and the investigation into Kenneth Noye. He also worked in the Metropolitan Police's Fraud Squad, and was described as 'an expert in developing anti-fraud measures and insurance fraud investigation within the insurance industry'. From 1996 to 2000 he was with the Bishop Group, as a corporate investigator.[45] For further details see under his page. In 2006, on leaving RISC, he joined CMGL Corporate Risk Solutions (now part of Capita Insurance Services) which focused on insurance and white collar fraud.[46]
  • Clifford Knuckey: Operations / Managing Director of RISC Global 2005, and from 2006-2009 of RISC Management. A former Metropolitan Police detective, he has since set up his own consultancy. For details, see under his page.
  • Ernest Edward "Ernie" Pallett: Operations Director of Risk Management Ltd from February 2009 to June 2011 (company director 14 September 2010 - 20 May 2011[47]), where he described his work as 'responsible for staff and budgets and lead on larger or more complex enquiries/projects.' 1986-1989 worked in the investigations division of HM Customs & Excise. From January 1992 to 2003 he was a consultant investigator various private security services, mainly serving the oil and gas industry and international fraud cases - working for firms such as Carratu International. Subsequently he was Business Integrity Manager / Corporate Security Manager in Russia for Shell (2003-2008). On leaving RISC, he was from July 2011 to June 2013 Security Director and Operations Director (Fuels) for the Supreme Group - an international logistics company specializing in supplying in conflict zones. Since 2013 he has been with with Little Brother Holdings Ltd, a logistics and supply chain security consultancy.[48][49]
  • Paul Fullicks: Managing Director, RISC Management Ltd October 2008 to March 2010. Previously he had spent 28 years at cast handling firm Securitas (later Loomis AB), rising to the position of Global Head of Risk and national security manager. In March 2010 he set up his own security and investigations / risk management company, iRisk Ltd.[50] Named as an expert in transport security, Fullicks appointment to RISC Management was reported as an attempt by the company to branch out following the financial crash of 2008.[51]

Heads / Directors of Investigations

  • Daniel Joseph Quirke: a former senior officer in Customs & Excise from 1992 to 2001, overlapping with Pallet for most of the time (see above). There he ran investigation teams, initially working on drugs squad, but moving on to the financial team tracking drug money. He was trained in surveillance, in handling sources and experienced in dealing with informers. In 1995 he was seconded to the No.6 Regional Crime Squad, based at Harlow. On leaving Customs in 2001, he was a freelance risk manger until he joined RISC in late 2005 - a friend mentioned him to Clifford Knuckey who in turn recruited him. He worked with RISC Global and RISC Management for 19 months as an investigator and financial investigator at the RISC offices. In 2006 he was the main handler of Litvinenko, taking over from Garym Evans, and worked with him on the Stolichnaya case (see above).[3] He left RISC around 2009 and resumed being self-employed.[52]
  • Garym Evans: Joined ISC Global in 2001[7] and continued there when it became RISC Management. In 2005 - 2006 he was Director of Investigations, and as such had had primacy for dealing with Litvinenko (see above).[5][3] He had been a Metropolitan Police officer 1981-1999, spending most of that time in CID, though he never rose above rank of Detective Constable.
  • Graham Wilson: RISC Head of Investigations (June 2004 - October 2007). Previously with International Security Group at MCI WorldCom (now Verizon Business) 1999-2004. In November 2007 he joined Vodaphone as investigations manager, becoming Intelligence Unit Manager in September 2013.[53]
  • Neil Casey: RISC Head of Investigations (November 2006[5]). Former Metropolitan Police detective, serving as an officer for 16 years. Subsequently was Head of Investigations for the Hermes Forensic Solutions, a company run by Clifford Knuckey and Michael Woods,[54] before established his own investigations firm NC Investigation Services Ltd in Chelmsford. [55][56]

Investigators and other staff

  • Steven Shepherd: IT Security Manager with RISC Management (ISC Global) since 2003.[57] In 2015 he was head of CISO / IT Risk for Animus Associates.[58][59]
  • Nicholas John "Nick" Hudson: Finance Director of RISC Management July 2003 to October 2010; he was secretary and director of many of the companies in the RISC group. He does not appear to have any other connection to the private security / investigation industry or the police.[60]
  • Martin Chard: Sales Director (2011 - 2013), heading the business development team (2011).[57]
  • Nicola French: investigator (January 2011 - January 2013). Spent 5 years (March 2006 to December 2010) with City of London Police as 'Intel and Applications Officer, working 'in the field of Sensitive and Confidential Intelligence analysis and research, with knowledge of policing and criminal investigations and Communications Data Investigations.' Since 2013 has been a manager at Colchester Borough Council.[57][61]
  • David Lennox: financial consultant (2011). A specialist in financial crime prevention, he was a Senior Investigations Manager for NatWest Bank, a Debt Recovery Manager for Robinson Way Ltd, then headed up the Fraud Prevention and Intelligence Unit as Director of Fraud and Physical Security at the British Banker's Association. Also worked at CIFAS, the fraud prevention organisation, leading a policy and projects team.[62][63]
  • Steve Cullis: investigator (November 2006[5]; July 2009). Member, Association of British Investigators. Email: scullis@managingrisc.com.[64]

Other employees of RISC Management in November 2006 were listed as David Thompson, Gabriella Catlin and Roy Hatton;[5] and, at an unknown date, David Flood.[38]

Contact details

There are two operational addresses associated with RISC Management Ltd and the associated companies:[65][66]

5th Floor[64]

1 Cavendish Place
London
WC1G 0QF (0QD)
t: 020 7291 5700
f: 020 7291 5701
e: enquiries@managingrisc.com

3rd Floor

7-8 Conduit Street
London
W1S 2XF
t: 020 7290 6900
f: 020 7290 6901

The company website, www.ManagingRISC.com, is no longer available, but has been extensively archived at the Internet Archive (archive.org).

Notes

  1. ↑ Simon Wright & Matthew Drake, Max Clifford and Rolf Harris hire private eyes to investigate alleged victims, The Mirror, 23 May 2015 (accessed 30 July 2015).
  2. ↑ See Mark Doyle, Business Development Director at RISC Management and Animus Associates since September 2012 - LinkedIn Profile (accessed 1 August 2015); Steven Shepherd, head of CISO / IT Risk for Animus Associates - LinkedIn Profile (accessed 1 August 2015); Maria Vasquez, Finance manager at RISC Management and Animus Associates from October 2003 - LinkedIn Profile (accessed 1 August 2015).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Transcript of Evidence given on 16 February 2015, The Litvinenko Inquiry, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 RISC Management Team, ManagingRISC.com (company website), archived at Archive.org on 23 April 2008.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Keith Hunter, Witness Statement of Keith Hunter, The Litvinenko Inquiry, 5 December 2012 (accessed 1 August 2015).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Luke Harding, Litvinenko inquiry told of mysterious break-in at Mayfair office, The Guardian, 9 February 2015 (accessed 30 July 2015).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Transcript of Evidence given on 9 Februry 2015, The Litvinenko Inquiry, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  8. ↑ RISC Management Ltd - Filing History, Companies House, undated (accessed 1 March 2016).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Tom Harper, Former Met detective alleged to have billed lawyers for invoices worth 'thousands of pounds' in Nigerian politician case, The Independent, 25 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Judgement in Flood v Times Newspaper Ltd, Supreme Court, [2012] UKSC 11, 21 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Michael Gillard, Detective accused of taking bribes from Russian exiles, The Times, 2 June 2006.
  12. ↑ The Court's decision lead to quite a debate, see for instance William Bennett, Opinion: “Gary Flood v Times Newspapers”, Inforrm's Blog, 28 September 2010, accessed 25 August 2015
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Michael Gillard, Claire Newell, Edward Malnick, Scotland Yard in corruption scandal: private investigators targeted Met Police inquiries like 'organised crime network', The Telegraph, 7 October 2016 (accessed October 2016)
  14. ↑ The Telegraph does not specify when this happened.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Paul Lewis & Rob Evans, Metropolitan police anti-corruption unit investigated over payments, The Guardian, 23 May 2012 (accessed 30 July 2015)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Mike Schwarz, Supplementary written evidence, Home Affairs Committee, 12 May 2012 (accessed 30 July 2015).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Michael Gillard, 'Phone hacking' security firm linked to Scotland Yard forced to hand over secret informants list, Mail on Sunday, 21 October 2012 (accessed 30 July 2015).
  18. ↑ The case were first revealed to the public in May 2012 when Mike Schwarz, then-lawyer for Bhadresh Gohil, gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee and spoke of possible payments by RISC to 'presumably police' sources.
  19. ↑ Arrested too was a third employee of RISC Management (also a former Metropolitan Police detective, thought to be Gary Walters). A fourth arrestee was the SCD6 officer alleged to be bribed by Knuckey, DC John MacDonald. The arrests were carried out by the anti-corruption department under Commander Peter Spindler, the MPS's Director of Professional Standards. Paul Lewis & Rob Evans, MPs will ask Met officer to clarify bribes testimony, The Guardian, 24 May 2012. MacDonald (sometimes spelled McDonald) had been trained under Knuckey in anti-money-laundering techniques when the latter was still with the Met. Other officers in SCD6 named as suspected beneficiaries of the £20,000 and involved in the investigation into Ibori were DI Gary Walters and DC Nicholas Greenwood, DC Ben Irons, DC Peter Clarke and DS George Simpson. Sources: Mark Easton, Detectives 'key culprits' in cash for information claim, BBC News Online, 23 May 2012 (accessed 30 July 2015); C. Anderson, Metropolitan Police Corruption - Nigerian Governor's Officers Are Investigated!, Nairaland.com, 2 January 2012 (accessed 30 July 2015).
  20. ↑ Rob Evans & Paul Lewis, Metropolitan police anti-corruption unit investigated over payments, The Guardian, 22 May 2012 (accessed 28 March 2016).
  21. ↑ Written evidence submitted by RISC Management Ltd, Home Affairs Select Committee, June 2012. In particular, RISC wrote: "Mr Walters has never been employed by RISC at any time since leaving the Police. He was contracted briefly on behalf of RISC to present a conference paper in Zurich on 29 February 2012 and 1March 2012 in respect of which he was paid expenses by a leading and well-respected law firm. He subsequently undertook one further specific assignment in December 2011 due to his extensive knowledge of anti-money laundering issues, but since that time he has undertaken no work for RISC. His engagement with RISC as a consultant amounts to a total of six working days over a two year period since his retirement. He has never been a RISC employee."
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Rob Evans, CPS accused of suppressing police corruption evidence, The Guardian, 23 January 2016 (accessed 1 March 2016).
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Jamie Grierson, Litvinenko 'probing vodka case', Press Association, 16 February 2015, accessed August 2015.
  24. ↑ Accuses Yukos Investigator, Intelligence Online (paywall), 8 June 2007 (accessed 28 March 2016).
  25. ↑ First Curacao International Bank was controlled by the banker and oil trader John Deuss and noted for its involvement in money laundering. In 1985 anti-apartheid activists in Holland fire-bombed his offices following the revelation his company, Transworld Oil was among the worst breaching the embargo on South Africa. A Transworld vice president, Bart van Laarhoven would subsequently purchase one RISC Global Ltd (see under RISC-ISC Global company network).
  26. ↑ Bank Menatep, Wikipedia, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  27. ↑ Tim Webb, Tim Osborne: If he dares set foot in Moscow, the men in balaclavas will be waiting, The Independent, 22 October 2006 (accessed 1 August 2015).
  28. ↑ John Fordham, Stephenson Harwood LLP (corporate website), 2016 (accessed 28 March 2016).
  29. ↑ The Russian Aluminium War, Act Two, Intelligence Online (paywall), 6 July 2007 (accessed via Nexis).
  30. ↑ Tom Peck, From Russia with hate: aluminium wars spill over into London court, The Independent, 15 December 2011 (accessed 28 March 2016).
  31. ↑ Israel News Agency, Oleg Deripaska fails to portray me as Russia's enemy, ocnus.net, 17 July 2007 (accessed 28 March 2016).
  32. ↑ Sean O'Neill, Police probe detective agency linked to Princess Diana's law firm, The Times, 27 July 2013.
  33. ↑ Dan Morrison, was a 'senior equity partner' at Mischon de Reya who speciaised in litigation and asset tracing, known for his 'aggresive approach' to his cases (something stated on the law firm's website). In 2006 he contracted work to private investigators Carratu International, who in turn subcontracted to 'blaggers' Sharon and Stephen Anderson. See Abul Taher & Ian Gallagher, How rogue private investigators stole bank details for Lloyd's of London, Mail on Sunday, 4 August 2013 (accessed 12 March 2016); and David Leigh & Rob Evans, Illegal investigators, a detective agency, and a leading law firm, The Guardian, 15 November 2006 (accessed 12 March 2016). However, it has not yet been ascertained if Morrison, who left Mischon de Reya in December 2010, had contracted to RISC Management, or whether it was another partner in the firm. However, it is also worth nothing there is another connection with Carratu through RISC Management's Operations Director Ernie Pallett who had previously contracted with them.
  34. ↑ Commercial Dispute Resolution - London (Bar): Barbara Dohmann QC, Blackstone Chambers, Chambers and Partners.com, undated (accessed 1 August 2015, since archived at archive.org, Jan 2021).
  35. ↑ See also: Barbara Dohmann QC, Blackstone Chambers, undated (accessed 1 August 2015, since archived at archive.org, Jan 2021) where mention is made of Dohmann acting in the case of Blyumkin & Others v Baker & Others (2013), a 'dispute raising issues under the Harassment Act and with regard to alleged breaches of confidentiality and computer hacking.' A reference has been found to three applications, IHQ/13/0172, IHQ/13/0204 and IHQ/13/0211, listed to be heard at the Queen's Bench Division, Royal Courts of Justice on 21 March 2013; source: HT Media Ltd / UK Government News, 'Queen's Bench Division (Court 15, Court 13, Court 14) to conduct hearings on March 21, 21 March 2013 (accessed via Nexis 4 August 2015).
  36. ↑ Undercover Research Group, internal note, 2015, unpublished.
  37. ↑ Holly Watt & Paul Kelso, England's 2018 World Cup bid hired corporate investigations agency to spy on rivals, The Telegraph, 10 May 2011 (accessed 30 July 2015).
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Contact - RISC, Sahar Daftary Trust, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  39. ↑ The Daftary family solicitors were Richard Slade & Associates (which had merged with the firm of Lawson-Cruttenden).Investigation, Sahar Daftary Trust, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  40. ↑ Dean Kirby, Mystery still surrounds the death of a model who plunged 150ft after a coroner was unable to say what led to the fall, Manchester Evening News, 29 July 2012, updated 21 January 2013, accessed September 2015.
  41. ↑ Officers, RISC Management Ltd, Companies House, undated (accessed 1 March 2016).
  42. ↑ Simon Hume-Kendall, Profile, LinkedIn, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  43. ↑ Paul Duffen, Wikipedia, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  44. ↑ Michael Mayhew-Arnold, Profile, LinkedIn.com, undated (accessed 1 March 2016).
  45. ↑ Anthony Brightwell, CBetta.com, undated (accessed 2 August 2015).
  46. ↑ CMGL launches Corporate Risk Solutions, Runoff & Restructuring: the journal of the re/insurance business, 11 January 2006 (accessed 2 August 2015).
  47. ↑ Ernie Pallett - director profile, CompanyCheck.co.uk, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  48. ↑ Ernie Pallett, Profile, LinkedIn, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  49. ↑ See also Little Brother Holding (website) and Ernest Pallett, CompanyCheck.co.uk (company director details), both undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  50. ↑ Paul Fullicks, Profile, LinkedIn, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  51. ↑ RISC Branches Out, Intelligence Online (paywall), 19 March 2008 (accessed via Nexis).
  52. ↑ Daniel Quirke, Witness Statement, The Litvinenko Inquiry, 19 September 2012 (accessed 1 August 2015).
  53. ↑ Graham Wilson, Profile, LinkedIn.com, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  54. ↑ Neil Casey, ZoomInfo.com, undated (accessed 29 March 2016).
  55. ↑ About us, NC Investigations (company website), undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  56. ↑ Neil Casey, Profile, LinkedIn.com, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 RISC Management Team, ManagingRISC.com (company website), archived at Archive.org on 14 May 2011.
  58. ↑ Steven Shepherd, LinkedIn Profile (accessed 1 August 2015).
  59. ↑ Domains Registered by Steve Shepherd, sshepherd@managingrisc.com: christopher-evans.info, christopher-evans.com, lightdecuk.com, fernadvisors.com, gbpropertyservices.com, riscmena.com Archive for Christopher-Evans.info, Whoisology.com, 18 February 2013 (accessed 1 August 2015).
  60. ↑ Nick Hudson, Profile, LinkedIn.com, undated (accessed 4 August 2015).
  61. ↑ Nicola French, Profile, LinkedIn.com, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  62. ↑ RISC Management Team, ManagingRISC.com (company website), archived at Archive.org on 26 February 2011.
  63. ↑ David Lennox (profile), ZoomInfo.com, undated (accessed 1 August 2015).
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 User Profile for Stephen Cullis, Law Agent Direct, 2009 (accessed 1 August 2015).
  65. ↑ RISC Management, Investigative Report into the Criminal Activities of Michael HOWARTH John GURNEY and Others, January 2008, report hosted at ThuleDrilling.info.
  66. ↑ Business Phone numbers in London, Phonenumber4.co.uk, undated (accessed 30 July 2015). See also RISC Management, LinkedIn, undated (accessed 30 July 2015); and Profile RISC Management Ltd, International Phone Traders, 2010 (accessed 30 July 2015.
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