David Walbank KC

Recommendations

He is fantastic in court. He is very approachable and very clever.

― Chambers & Partners (2026)

David is excellent. He is very direct, clients are very impressed with him and he is equally as tough acting for defence as well as prosecution.

― Chambers & Partners (2026)

He is indefatigable in his pursuit of the client’s interests at trial.

― Legal 500 (2026)

David is an excellent orator. He commands respect and is fearless in his defence of his client.

― Legal 500 (2025)

David is a tremendously articulate advocate and can translate really complex issues well.

― Chambers UK (2025)

David is fearless and dedicated. He is a very bold advocate with huge determination to succeed at whatever cost. His written submissions are very comprehensive.

― Legal 500 (2024)

David is the king of disclosure.

― Chambers UK (2023)

He is so versatile in the way he can approach a case and his advocacy.

― Chambers UK (2023)

First-class. Understands the law, judges and clients and has a complete set of weaponry to deploy in any given situation.

― Legal 500 (2023)

He is always scrupulously well prepared and articulate. His experience of prosecuting is very valuable.

― Chambers UK (2022)

Very collaborative and professional - he is excellent to work with.

― Chambers UK (2022)

David’s tactical nose for a case is immense and he will fearlessly pursue his instructions with dogged determination. David’s understanding of complex legal provisions and his ability to articulate a winning argument from them is deeply impressive.

― Legal 500 (2022)

In court he is utterly dogged, and will pursue any point he feels will assist his case, especially in cross-examination. He takes no prisoners and, if you are in a case against him, prepare to be battered, bruised and charmed by the end of it.

― Legal 500 (2021)

A fierce advocate and someone who is not afraid to take on difficult cases – he’s someone you want in your corner.

― Chambers UK (2021)

Fantastic and a fine advocate. He is always better prepared than anyone in the courtroom and he puts in an astounding amount of hours.

― Chambers UK (2020)

He’s very smooth, has a lovely way of dealing with tricky clients and deals with everything beautifully.

― Chambers UK (2020)

An advocate of exceptional ability … he possesses a first-class legal mind … his command of the courtroom is nothing short of awe-inspiring … he is intelligent, articulate and fearless … he goes above and beyond the call of duty … his integrity, work ethic and intelligence are a sight to behold … David Walbank QC is outstanding in fraud matters … he is highly recommended for serious fraud cases… A combination of charm and steel.

― Legal 500 (2019)

A very tenacious and bold advocate who is extremely hard-working and a brilliant cross-examiner … He fights his client’s corner with absolute vigour … He is highly proficient in in complex tax fraud and money laundering cases.

― Chambers UK (2019)

A brave, fierce and hardworking advocate … well known for cases involving fraud, money laundering and bribery.

― Legal 500 (2017)

A highly experienced advocate … outstanding in fraud cases.

― Legal 500 (2016)

Known for his defence practice, which has an emphasis on white collar crime.

― Legal 500 (2015)

Business Crime & Fraud

David Walbank KC specialises exclusively in financial crime. As a former Standing Counsel to the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and the Department of Trade and Industry, he has immense experience at the highest level of serious financial and regulatory prosecutions. He is frequently instructed in major HMRC and Serious Fraud Office trials, including large-scale tax fraud, corruption and complex proceeds of crime cases. His work invariably involves high-value allegations, lengthy investigations and trials and representing defendants drawn from regulated professions and in senior commercial positions.

Alongside his advocacy practice, David is a leading academic commentator. He is the founder and presenter of the specialist criminal law updating website, www.crimecast.law, which provides analysis and commentary on recent developments in crime with a particular emphasis on white-collar fraud. He has recently launched his most recent series of video case reviews: ‘The Top 25 Financial Crime Cases of 2025’.

David is a frequent and sought-after lecturer on financial crime. He regularly delivers major keynote lectures, including most recently in December 2025 with his ‘Review of the Year 2025’ to the Whitehall Prosecutors Group, the principal forum for criminal prosecutors across all government departments and fraud prosecution agencies, including the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority & Crown Prosecution Service. His commentary work, teaching and advocacy reflect his standing as a leading practitioner and recognised authority in this highly specialist field of expertise.

Featured cases

• Operation Hands (June 2025 to date) – Currently briefed for the defence in this Serious Fraud Office prosecution arising from the collapse of the law firm, Axiom Ince. Five men, including two solicitors, are charged with offences relating to the alleged improper use of £60 million of client monies, as well as the forgery and destruction of documents said to have been intended to hamper an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. At the time it was closed down by the SRA, Axiom Ince had offices across the UK, including in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol. The charges are denied and the case has been sent to the Southwark Crown Court. The trial is fixed for 4 months.
• Operation Gasket (June 2025 to date) – Currently briefed for the defence in this prosecution of a forensic accountant accused of charity fraud. Following an 8-year investigation, HM Revenue and Customs allege that the defendant registered two sham charities with the Charity Commission and made false declarations of more than £1.6 million in charitable donations in Gift Aid application forms and in his personal Self-Assessment tax returns. The charges are denied and the case has been sent to the Southwark Crown Court.
• Operation Salmon (February 2025 to date) – Currently briefed for one of the main defendants in this £98 million tax fraud prosecution, following a 6-year investigation by HM Revenue & Customs. A total of 20 defendants has been charged. The allegations concern the provision of payroll services for tens of thousands of temporary workers to a range of high-profile recruitment agencies, high street retailers and other market-leading brands. The charges are denied and the case has been sent to the Southwark Crown Court. David’s client will appear in the first of a series of trials. The trial is fixed for 6 months.
• Operation Ginseng (August 2024 to date) – Currently briefed for the defence in this HMRC investigation into a group of individuals who are alleged to have designed, promoted and managed a fraudulent scheme to evade tens of millions of pounds worth of tax. The allegation is that they dishonestly circumvented the so-called ‘Loan Charge’ under which taxpayers would be liable to pay a lump sum in respect of disguised remuneration loans. David’s client was the director of a tax consultancy, which provided professional advice to the scheme’s subscribers. The prosecution claim this was a front to give the appearance of satisfying regulatory requirements. The charges are denied and the case has been sent to the Southwark Crown Court. The trial is fixed for 4 months.
• Operation Sanderling (July 2022 to date) – Currently briefed for the defence in this furlough fraud prosecution, in which the prosecution alleges a scheme to defraud HM Revenue & Customs of more than £35 million through the systematic abuse of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Under the government’s emergency legislation, employees who were unable to work because of the pandemic were paid 80% of their wages, with HMRC then reimbursing their employers. It is alleged that the defendant submitted false claims in the names of more than 4,000 temporary workers. The charge is denied and the case is fixed for trial.
• Operation Vanbrugh (December 2021 to May 2023) – David was briefed as leading counsel for the so-called ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ in this case investigated by the City of London Fraud Squad. The charges related to an alleged £50 million Ponzi scheme, involving hundreds of victims.
• Operation Centrum (November 2020 to date) – David is briefed for the defence in one of the longest running investigations by HMRC, dating back more than 13 years. The case involves charges of alcohol diversion fraud, VAT fraud and money-laundering on an industrial scale.
• R v S-R (January 2021 to April 2024) – David was briefed for the defendant in this prosecution for fraud by abuse of position through the exploitation of a power of attorney to denude an elderly man (since deceased) of his entire estate, including his home, share portfolio and the contents of his bank accounts. The defendant was acquitted on the principal count and received a suspended sentence on more minor charges.
• R v JB (November 2019 to November 2023) – David was briefed for the defence in this alleged conspiracy to cheat the revenue, involving the smuggling of multiple container loads of cigarettes worth tens of millions of pounds. The HMRC investigation was one of the first to result from the National Crime Squad’s Operation Venetic, which centred on the worldwide deployment of a covert implant into handsets using the EncroChat secure communications platform.
• Operation Agile (March 2018 to January 2019) – Secured a not guilty verdict on behalf of the main defendant in this three-month bribery and corruption trial at the Southwark Crown Court, which was widely reported as Big Oil On Trial. The client was the International Business Development Manager for F.H.Bertling Ltd, a global freight-forwarder, and was alleged to have been the architect of a conspiracy involving senior executives at Bertling and at Conoco Phillips, the US oil and gas giant.
• R v JM (April 2017- October 2018) – This prosecution arose from an investigation by the City of London Police into the financial affairs of a man previously convicted of large-scale money-laundering activity. The defendant was alleged to be a professional money-launderer for a Liverpool-based Organised Crime Group. Following a series of disclosure requests which were submitted for information held by the Ministry of Justice and by the Insolvency Service, the Crown offered no evidence.
• Operation Amazon (2016-2017) – A tax-incentivised carbon credit investment scheme, where £110m revenue was alleged to have been put at risk, resulting in a ten-year investigation by HMRC and a nine-month trial before a High Court judge in the Southwark Crown Court.
• R v JR (2017) – Successfully dismissed laundering charges on the grounds that the predicate tax offences had not yet crystallised, an early application of the Supreme Court’s decision in R v GH.
• R v CH (2017) – Secured the dismissal of the charges on the ground that there had been no false representation under the Fraud Act 2006 where reverse proxy websites had been used to circumvent the effect of High Court injunctions obtained against UK internet service providers.
• R v TD (2016) – The jury was discharged following a submission that the offence of Cheating the Public Revenue was not complete at the time of arrest: the defendant then received a suspended sentence following a Goodyear indication in relation to an amended indictment.
• R v MR (2016) – Apple iPhone fraud. The prosecution offered no evidence following a successful submission regarding the inadmissibility of the crucial bank records.
• R v KS (2015) – An allegedly fraudulent investment scheme, involving timeshare properties in the United States and in which the victims were senior police officers. Following successful admissibility arguments, the prosecution offered no evidence.
• R v RS (2015) – Instructed to represent the lead defendant on money-laundering charges arising from a large-scale excise fraud.
• R v RA (2014) – Instructed to represent a solicitor, who was charged with money-laundering offences arising from a Solicitors Regulation Authority investigation. The defendant was acquitted.
• R v RP (2013) – Instructed to lead the defence of a number of men charged with a complex Film Tax Credit fraud. The defendant was acquitted.
• R v DW (2013) – A massive land bank prosecution alleged by the prosecution to be worth £35m.
• R v SY (2013) – Instructed to represent a ‘reality TV star’ on charges of personal tax fraud. The defendant was acquitted.
• R v WT (2012) – Instructed to represent a World Bank staff-member accused of channelling millions of pounds worth of corrupt payments from corporate bidders for World Health Projects to bank accounts in Switzerland.
• R v HR (2012) – A series of trials of alleged tax frauds, involving a number of high-profile individuals in Premiership football.
• R v AV (2012) – A £200m conspiracy to defraud prosecution brought by the Federation Against Copyright Theft, alleging the deliberate facilitation of access to copyright material across the internet.

Education

• MA Hons in Law, Queens’ College, Cambridge

Awards

• Elected President of the Cambridge Union Society (Michaelmas, 1985)

Professional appointments

• Standing Counsel to the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (2005 – 2010)
• Standing Counsel to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2013 – 2017)
• CPS Specialist Panel Advocate (Fraud)
• CPS Specialist Panel Advocate (Organised Crime)
• SFO Panel Advocate (List A)
• Regulatory List ‘A’ for the Health & Safety Executive, Office of Rail Regulation and Environment Agency

Memberships

• FLA
• CBA
• South Eastern Circuit

Publications

In October 2020, David launched the updating website crimecast.law which hosts video case reviews of recent case law and legislation. The website now has more than 200 videos, many of them in the field of Business Crime & Fraud. Daniel Cundy (Partner and Co-Head of Dispute Resolution at Blackfords LLP) says: “CrimeCast.Law has become the indispensable resource for specialists in Fraud, AML, Corruption and Regulatory Compliance”. His Honour Judge Lucas QC (Honorary Recorder of Haringey and Resident Judge at Wood Green Crown Court) says: “David Walbank QC’s expert oral explanation of points of principle in recent appeal decisions is an invaluable tool in keeping up to date with developments in criminal law”. For free and instant access to all David’s video case reviews, visit CrimeCast Law

David is also the crime columnist for the New Law Journal. His recent ‘Crime Brief’ articles include commentaries on:

‘Government of the United States of America v Assange [2022] 4 WLR 11 on the US Government’s attempts to extradite Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, for disclosing defence and national security material’, NLJ, 200th Anniversary double issue, 15 & 22 April 2022

‘Bloomberg LP v ZXC [2022] 3 All ER 1 on the leaking of the confidential contents of a Letter of Request sent by the UK authorities to US prosecutors’, NLJ, 27 May 2022)

‘R v Keal (Jonathan Robert) [2022] 2 Cr App R 4 on the M’Naghten rules and the English criminal courts’ approach to the concept of insanity’, NLJ, 15 July 2022

‘R (Lynch) v Westminster Magistrates’ Court [2022] 1 WLR 2065 on the long-running litigation arising from Hewlett Packard’s controversial $11 billion takeover Autonomy Corporation plc’, NLJ, 27 May 2022

David is also a prolific speaker on topical issues of interest to criminal practitioners and other professionals in the financial and wealth management sector. He has given keynote lectures at each of the following events:

The BNP Paribas Economic Crime Conference in Paris. He spoke to a live audience at the worldwide headquarters of the French international banking group and his lecture was simultaneously live-streamed to nearly 500 delegates in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

He founded the Red Lion Lectures and, as well as hosting many of the events, his own talks have included a ‘Review of the Year in Business Crime’, ‘Safe Havens in the Perfect Storm?’ (on the extra-territorial criminal offences of corporate failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion under the Criminal Finances Act 2017) and ‘Still Draining the Swamp’ on the continuing efforts to combat money laundering in the London prime property market.

The annual conference of STEP Alpine (the Swiss and Liechtenstein Federation of the International Society of Trust and Estate Planners) in Interlaken, Switzerland. His fellow lecturers included Her Excellency Jane Owen (HM Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation), Count Francis von Seilern-Aspang (Chairman and Managing Director of the wealth preservation experts, Industrie-und Finanzkontor Ets.) and Her Serene Highness Princess Therese of Liechtenstein. Other speakers included leading academics from the University of Geneva and King’s College London as well as an array of private client specialists from across the globe and some of the top tax and trust lawyers from leading London firms.

David has twice in recent years been invited to deliver the keynote lecture on recent developments in Business Crime & Fraud to the Annual Government Legal Service Prosecutors’ Conference, speaking alongside the then Director of the Serious Fraud Office and the Solicitor General.

He has also lectured on the Fraud Act 2006 with Professor David Ormerod QC and on Legal Professional Privilege to the Metropolitan Police Fraud Squad.

David has a particular expertise in complex disclosure issues. In Butterworths’ ‘Fraud: Law, Practice & Procedure’, he wrote the chapter on prosecution disclosure and in Gross LJ’s ‘Review of Disclosure In Criminal Proceedings’, the so-called ‘Walbank Protocol’ was described as a model for prosecution disclosure.

Other expertise

• Business Crime & Fraud

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