Slaughters tracks down charity's £6m

FIVE solicitors from Slaughter and May spearheaded an international investigation which traced nearly £6 million allegedly defrauded from the Salvation Army.

Partner Richard Clark headed the London-based team which tracked the funds through 13 countries and also recovered £3 million in interest and costs.

The operation involved 43 law firms worldwide, and in England 20 judges presided over a series of complex hearings which granted orders enabling the freezing and recovery of assets.

Clark led assistants Ron Donovan, Brian Kingman, Amanda Fetto and Adrian Davies, as they pursued Stuart Ford and Gamil Mounir Naguib in an alleged investment scam.

Scotland Yard has investigated the two men and a report is being considered by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Clark said: "A lot of the work was relatively procedural - straightforward applications to find out where the money has gone. The difficult litigation was in London where we were proceeding substantially against the wrongdoers.

"There are certain aspects of this case which are novel but many others were standard."

Paul Rader, General of the Salvation Army, praised the team. "I am delighted the strenuous efforts made have produced such an excellent result."