Keith Mitchell

Year of Call: 1981

 “Serious fraud defence expert” Keith Mitchell was “praised by solicitors for his great client care skills and “flair when it comes to case management, according to independent research in the 2008 Chambers Directory. The same edition also praises him as “a flamboyant yet hardworking leading junior.” “He was leading counsel on a European MTIC fraud with multiple carousels, said to be the largest of its kind”

Keith is ranked as a leading junior in criminal fraud in Chambers & Partners (2008).

Previous editions had praised him as “user-friendly grafter with a wealth of specialist serious fraud defence experience”, “pleasant and unstuffy with clients” and “good to have on high-value frauds as he is so hard-working and thorough”.

As these quotes suggest, Keith’s forte is defending complex, high-value frauds, such as R v Ali and others the £120 million Operation Venison VAT fraud trial which collapsed and was subsequently investigated by the IPCC. Experienced in the range of serious fraud work, including Inland Revenue, VAT and all varieties of company fraud, his other recent highlights include leading in Operation Divert (£110 million VAT fraud), Operation Dowel Drive and Lychees (£50 million VAT fraud) and Operation Dossal, Dunnaway and Droona (£100 million VAT fraud). He acted for the lead defendant in the Hilton Metropole (NEC) agency fee fraud and was instructed to lead for the first defendant in Operation Devout.

Since arriving at Furnival Chambers in 2005, Keith’s burgeoning practice has continued to develop, with instructions in major fraud cases and regulatory matters arising from Operation Ginseng (Directors disqualification) and Operation Lexus (£55 million MTIC fraud). Other high-profile work has included one of the country’s largest ever music industry copyright frauds. Perhaps most high profile of all, though, is Keith’s instruction to lead in Operation Krypton – better known as the ‘Jockey Club’ case – which has attracted considerable international publicity.

Outside the fraud arena, Keith has defended a number of murder cases, as well as armed robberies and aggravated assaults. A member of the South Eastern Circuit and the Criminal Bar Association, he was a lecturer to Surrey Police for three years from 2000, and in 2003 was appointed to the Specialist Fraud Panel Appeal Committee.