Arun Chauhan

About Arun

I am a solicitor and compliance professional specialising in all issues of governance concerning financial crime compliance, fraud investigations and litigation arising out of suspected dishonesty (fraud).  

In 2016 I set up my own niche law firm (Tenet Compliance & Litigation) which provides advice on financial crime compliance, fraud investigations and recovery.  I was previously a partner and joint head of the commercial fraud team at Top 20 law firm, DWF LLP.  

Tenet has grown to 11 people, a mix of part and full time promoting agile working especially for parents with young children.  Almost the entire team is made up of lawyers from national law firms.   We have been shortlisted in 2019 for Legal Week's Innovation awards for mid-size practice and also by the Law Society in their Excellence Awards for sole-practitioner of the year. 
 
I have over 15 years' experience as a solicitor advising on fraud-related matters, including employee fraud, bribery and corruption, investment fraud and professional negligence claims.  Examples of my work are below.   
 
I am dedicated to my area of work. I am a a trustee director and deputy chair of the highly respected Fraud Advisory Panel charity. I am a regular speaker and trainer on counter fraud issues (for example for in 2018 I will present facilitate the NHS Counter Fraud Authority's annual conference and present for RICS). I am a regular expert for the BBC on fraud related issues and hold a post-graduate diploma in financial crime compliance with the International Compliance Association.    I draft articles on a range of subjects concerning fraud and financial crime, be it concerning companies, not for profit organisations through to SMEs/individuals.

Examples of my work are below: 
 
Counter fraud/Compliance work

• Advised health insurance provider on counter fraud policies and internal processes for responding to fraudulent claims.
• Advised a bank on issues of AML risk relating to new products and delivered counter fraud training.
• Advised a large private company that owns a number of access sites to the UK as regards their financial crime risks and advising on improvements to policies and procedures.
• Advised on bribery risk assessment for a large supplier to a large fast food chain.
• Advised various housing associations on counter fraud and bribery policies as well as providing training in investigation into fraud by internal and external parties.
• Advised various manufacturing companies on issues concerning numerous issues including governance of financial crime risk in the supply chain and take on policies as regards new large customer relationships (for example with respect to money laundering risks and VAT fraud).
• Delivered training on subjects such as updates on bribery risk, insider threat of fraud and cybercrime to organisations such as the Institute of Internal Auditors, the ICAEW, one of the largest public infrastructure project (confidential), The National Housing Federation, The International Compliance Association, RICS and the Charity Finance Group.

 
Investigations & Litigation
 

• I have managed approximately 100 fraud related cases concerning bribery, insider fraud, misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duties ranging in value from £10,000 through to £30m.
• Since I set up Tenet I have advised on a bribery issues by an agent in the Middle East for a US listed company involving proceedings in England valued at £12m, acted in the Court of Appeal to obtain the leading judgment on issues concerning the appointment of Administrators arising out a challenge of the legitimacy of their appointment, concluded a successful 13 day trial concerning the fraudulent inducement of a company to enter into lease finance agreements with in excess of £1m.
• I have also advised on numerous successful cases of obtaining freezing injunctions over assets and obtaining disclosure orders from third parties to proceedings to aid investigations.

 
My firm
 
In terms of my firm, it started as just myself in 2016 and is now a team of 11 great people all bar one previously working at national law firms.  At the heart of this niche firm is our focus on why we exist.  We want to reduce fraud and help great lawyers and the supporting team be a better version of themselves.  We do not have targets, we fix price our work and allow our team to the best they can without the constraints of fear of write offs or chargeable hours.   We are an agile workforce and focused on enjoying what we do.    We have grown principally through recommendation and referral. 
 
Our  work for organisations includes advice on governance requirements, prevention and detection of financial crime. If dishonesty or fraud are suspected of employees, suppliers or business partners, we help clients investigate and recover from the damage suffered, be it loss of money, goods or confidential information. 
 
I set up Tenet in 2016 to be an alternative niche law firm in the fraud space focused on achieving the supply of legal services in this area for less coupled with creating a place of work that our team want to be a part of.    

I am presently quite focused on how leadership and management style has a direct link on fraud risk and prevention (just in case that is of interest!).   
 

Years of experience

22

About their firm

Tenet Compliance & Litigation ("Tenet") is a niche law firm that specialises in providing legal advice and consultancy on financial crime compliance, investigation and reaction. Tenet also provides bespoke training services on fraud prevention.

Tenet was founded to assist clients from a range of sectors to help counter their risk and exposure to the international threat of financial crime as well as aid their understanding of civil fraud litigation recovery options at an earlier stage so to reduce their exposure to loss without being tied to the cost of seeking such advice from large national or London centred firms where the specialism typically exists.

With respect to financial crime compliance work, Tenet focus on understanding a client's current approach to countering financial crime threats through review of policies, procedures, contracts, Board direction, risk assessments and training. Advice is provided to improve resilience to the threats posed by financial crime such as fraud and corruption.

Tenet was set up to be the space between those large firms and small firms without that expertise. Tenet offer the expertise of a large national law firm but at a lower cost which was central to the ambitions for this new firm when created by Arun Chauhan. The ability to react to fraud when a party has already suffered loss should not be overly restricted by legal cost and Tenet seek to plug the void of supporting clients and not for profit organisations who need expert affordable advice in this area.

You can learn more about us at www.tenetlaw.co.uk 
 

Areas of expertise

• Commercial Law
• Litigation & Dispute Resolution