I practiced law from 2004 until 2020. I have significant specialist experience in international civil fraud investigation and asset recovery, finance and high value litigation.

I have acted for governmental bodies such as HMRC and for a range of private sector clients, including in the finance arena for Insolvency Practitioners and overseas investors/creditors. I have advised on a number of reported cases including through to the Supreme Court of England and have run cases where litigation has been conducted overseas. I became interested in cryptocurrency in 2018 and I obtained certifications in crypto investigations from CSI Tech (2019) and CipherTrace (2020) and spoke at seminars across the UK in 2019/2020 in my role as a director at Gateley Plc to raise awareness of the need to identify crypto in financial investigations. In January 2021 I was delighted to take up a different role at Chainalysis as a Training Specialist before moving into the role of Head of Global Asset Management in January 2022 which now allows me to facilitate solutions to enable more crypto asset recovery across both the private and public sector.

Rose Kehoe

Rose Kehoe is a managing director in the Restructuring and Disputes practice and is based in Singapore. She has over 16 years of experience providing advice on formal insolvency procedures and financial restructuring to both debtors and creditors, having done so in Hong Kong and Thailand, as well as providing expert opinion for litigation support including in valuation-related matters.

Syed's great depth of experience in serious fraud, financial crime and multi-jurisdictional investigations has earmarked him as a robust solicitor. He is proficient in both civil and criminal cases, where there is an allegation of corporate wrongdoing. Syed has substantial experience in advising corporate entities and their directors and officers in relation to investigations conducted by all the major enforcement agencies. He has also built an impressive reputation in the field of asset-tracing and recovery, with a respected track record regarding international disputes where urgent relief is required involving freezing orders and recovering misappropriated assets.

Syed is recognised for his sector-leading, pioneering cryptocurrency work, having secured a number of significant legal firsts when representing institutions and individuals. His specialist expertise in civil recovery proceedings under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) has also led to him recording notable successes for clients in national and international cases.

Syed has a dynamic practice involving complex sanctions issues and related litigation. He has notable cases in this area, including representation of public limited companies (PLC’s) trading on the London Stock Exchange in relation to international sanctions on Russia, public joint-stock companies (PJSC’s) trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange regarding UK and EU sanctions on Russia and a major Russian power engineering company headquartered in St Petersburg relating to international sanctions advice. Syed regularly prepares licence applications to release frozen funds or economic resources for designated persons and entities. He is also adept at challenging sanctions designations.

He is known for his abilities in multijurisdictional, worldwide asset recovery cases – including obtaining and defending the full range of injunctions - high-stakes commercial and financial disputes and cross-border investigations involving attacks on clients’ interests by numerous governments or agencies. His skill in defending high-profile corruption, fraud and regulatory allegations and his ability to negotiate with investigators have ensured his clients receive the strongest representation.

The Chambers UK Guide regularly ranks Syed as an elite solicitor. It has called him “a very technically gifted lawyer’’ and has said he “gets on top of all the facts in complex cases’’. Chambers has described him as “very committed to the work he does’’ and said he “leaves no stone unturned and has a passion for what he does’’. It has repeatedly highlighted his expertise in POCA work and asset recovery proceedings. The 2023 edition of Chambers praises his ability to “forge ground in fast-developing areas’’ and his cryptocurrency case skills.

Syed’s clients include corporates and their directors, financial institutions, hedge funds, high net worth individuals and international private clients around the world. Syed has a particular interest in litigation arising from mergers and acquisitions, derivatives and securities offerings (IPO’s, SPAC IPO’s and debt offerings) and works with private equity funds and private sponsors for public companies.

He is adept at advising corporate entities and their directors and officers on their regulatory and compliance obligations and in investigations conducted by agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs. His ability to assess complex issues, establish the facts and analyse challenging sets of circumstances have seen him excel on internal investigations carried out for Rahman Ravelli’s corporate clients.

Syed routinely advises clients in FCA investigations into alleged market abuse, breaches of regulated activities and unauthorised trading. He is sought by asset management firms and chief investment officers at hedge funds facing enforcement proceedings and financial services litigation.

The Legal 500 has called Syed “a creative thinker’’, “a master of detail’’ and someone who “entirely devotes himself to his cases’’. It has drawn attention to the wide variety of global corporate wrongdoing and multi-jurisdictional bribery and corruption investigations he has worked on. It has praised his “incredible depth of experience when it comes to fraud matters, and in particular those with an international element or where the National Crime Agency are involved.’’ The 2023 edition calls him “one of the most well-respected names’’ in the legal world and emphasises his abilities in emerging areas such as SPACs and cryptocurrency fraud.

Syed is also in demand to work on cases where there is the possibility of securing a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) for clients. The Legal 500 has noted Rahman Ravelli’s expertise in advising on DPAs and recognised that Syed “goes the extra mile to get the best results for his clients in leading on a multi-jurisdictional matter concerning this area”.

His recent work has involved global energy sector corruption allegations, major financial services cases, fintech companies and many of the most complex worldwide asset recovery cases.