40 Tuesday May 24 2022 | the times
Business
A High Court judge last week described
a City lawyer as being “obsessed with
making money” in his ruling on a row
between a mining company and fraud
investigators. No wonder, then, that
after Neil Gerrard and Dechert, the law
firm where he was a partner, were
sacked by Eurasian Natural Resources
Corporation over his unauthorised
contact with the Serious Fraud Office,
the solicitor cast around for another
big-money client to fill the gap.
Gerrard and Dechert turned to
Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven
emirates that form the UAE, and to its
ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Saud bin
Saqr al-Qasimi. However, the Phila-
delphia-based Dechert’s involvement
with the Ras Al Khaimah Investment
Authority quickly became cloaked in
intrigue and now is the subject of lurid
High Court claims over the behaviour
of Gerrard.
While Mr Justice Waksman’s ruling
on Gerrard’s involvement with the SFO
will further damage that agency, the
next round of separate litigation —
which was before the court for a case
management hearing last week —
could be infinitely more damaging for
the Square Mile’s legal profession.
At the core of the case are claims ofThe new bosses at Ofwat have received
a housewarming present from a parlia-
mentary committee, with the launch of
an investigation into whether the water
regulator is doing its job properly.
The Lords’ industry and regulators
committee has launched an inquiry
into Ofwat demanding answers to at
least 15 questions.
The select committee’s inquiry will
pitch two former corporate leaders
against each other: Lord Hollick of
Notting Hill, 77, a Labour peer, former
media baron and chairman of the
Lords’ committee; and Iain Coucher,
60, a former chief executive of Network
City lawyer in
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor mental and threatened physical torture
and widescale computer hacking.
Before qualifying as a solicitor in
1991, Gerrard, 67, was a police officer at
Scotland Yard. He and a team of
Dechert lawyers — including Caroline
Black, another London partner — are
alleged to have been instructed
effectively to operate as private interro-
gators for the emirate’s investment
authority, which had claimed that two
former government lawyers were
involved in corruption.
Karam al-Sadeq and Jihad Quzmar,
two Jordanians, have been jailed for the
past seven years. They claim that dur-
ing that time they and their families
were routinely threatened by Gerrard
and his team. Al-Sadeq claims he was
abducted by Ras Al Khaimah agents
from his home in Dubai, without an ex-
tradition request. Both lawyers say they
have spent long periods in solitary con-
finement — 560 days for al-Sadeq; 466
days for Quzmar.
In his damages claim before the High
Court, al-Sadeq alleges that as part of
the investigation into alleged fraud at
the investment authority, he was inter-
rogated by Gerrard, with no access to
legal representation, in unsanitary and
inhumane conditions. He says that was
held in a cell with no natural light,
without adequate medical attention,Ofwat bosses welcomed with inquiry
Rail who takes up the post of chairman
of Ofwat on July 1.
The inquisitors will include Lord
Allen of Kensington, 65, another
former media baron; Lord Agnew of
Oulton, 61, who recently quit the gov-
ernment over its record on Covid fraud;
and Lord Burns of Pitshanger, 78, the
former Treasury chief mandarin and
more recently chairman of the Ofcom,
the communications regulator.
Alongside Coucher will be David
Black, 59, an Ofwat veteran who has
been running the regulator for some
time but was confirmed as its chief
executive only last month.
Hollick wants written answers to a
series of questions before hearings areheld at a later date. For example; is
Ofwat doing the job it is supposed to be
doing under legislation? Does it
properly take into account what
consumers want and is it keeping their
bills down? Does it properly take into
account what water companies want
and is it granting them high enough
charges? Is it keeping environmen-
talists happy? And when will the
regulator get round to sorting out the
perennial problem of foul flooding from
overflowing sewers?
The inquiry comes after the conten-
tious 2019 household bill- charging de-
terminations, the most controversial
price settlement in the three-decade
history of the privatised water industry.Robert Lea Industrial Editor
A
further set of chocks
preventing the take-off of
the American takeover of
Meggitt were removed
yesterday (Robert Lea writes).
However, a final determination
from the government over whetherthere is a national security issue in
the deal for the UK aerospace and
defence company remains.
Meggitt, based in Ansty near
Coventry, agreed to a £6.3 billion
takeover by Parker-Hannifin, a US
engineer, last year. Just as its deal
was being signed off by Meggitt’s
board and shareholders last
autumn, Kwasi Kwarteng, the
business secretary, utilised new
post-Brexit ministerial powers and
called in the acquisition for further
investigation.
Meggitt provides parts to AirbusMeggitt takeover
ready to fly after
suitor sells wing