Adam Davis KC

He defends in serious and complex cases. Instructed by many Solicitors, he has an outstanding reputation as a Fraud Specialist. For the last 10 years as a Junior, he practised almost exclusively in the area of Serious Fraud and Sports Law.

He is an accredited lecturer on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Confiscation and Money Laundering) and has lectured on Proceeds of Crime and Bribery. He is also a Non-Executive Director on a variety of boards.

As a silk, he has continued to defend in Serious Fraud cases as well as other Serious Crime. In the last 12 months, he continues to be instructed in a £1m fraud on Hackney Borough Council, and prosecuting a Managing Director on a £3m Fraud by Abuse of Position charge.

Featured Fraud cases

R v MM [2023]

Defended MM accused in major construction bribery case. Jury discharged during closing speeches after 6 weeks. Retrial in January 2025.

R v VD [2024], Manchester Crown Court

This case is not a strict fraud but the volume of paperwork in the case means that it is tantamount to one of the largest frauds ever experienced by counsel. This is a massive drug conspiracy with 22 defendants charged on a 12-count Indictment alleging involving billions of pounds of cocaine, heroin and cannabis. It has been called the biggest ever UK drug conspiracy. The trial is scheduled to last five months. There are more than 150,000 pages of evidence currently served. The prosecution instructed three counsel.

R v RL [2021], Southwark Crown Court

Instructed to prosecute RL with an offence of Fraud by Abuse of Position. The accused had systematically obtained in excess of £3m from the company by a variety of methods, including inflated personal expenditure and diversion of funds to his own bank account. The brand is well known in the shoe industry, supplying a number of the major department stores. The owner of the business is a trust which originates from the USA. Defendant pleaded guilty in the end and was sentenced to a term of four years three months Imprisonment and disqualified from being a director for seven years. The prosecution were awarded costs out of central funds.

R v AL [2021], Southwark Crown Court

Allegation that the Defendant received bribes from three of the London Borough of Hackney sub-contractors mostly in the form of money transfers through a company called K and R consultants (set up by the Defendant and another, with the help of their domestic partners). The Crown’s case was that it was a “sham” company designed to harvest the bribes from sub-contractors. More than £1m was involved in the Offence. The Defendant collapsed while in the middle of evidence and a retrial subject to his mental health was ordered. The case was dealt with by way of “trial of issue” as the defendant was still unfit to be tried.

R v AS [2019], Cardiff Crown Court

The defendant was charged with five others, including members of his family, with a £7.5m fraud. The fraud took the form of grant payments from the Welsh Assembly and the European Union. This was a fraud perpetrated over many years, generating a vast amount of documentation. The case was a “Bespoke” Contract under the VHCC scheme, based on 150,000 pages of evidence. Anthony Smith was the lead defendant and said by the Crown to be the architect of the fraud. The case attracted significant publicity and was politically sensitive for the Welsh government, as it involved suggestions of negligent allocation of budget funds.