Scott Turner-Percy

Overview

Scott Turner-Percy advises corporations, financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals and senior executives on serious financial crime, regulatory enforcement, corporate criminal liability, civil fraud and asset recovery.

Across almost two decades in business crime and investigations, Scott has built a practice spanning three areas of experience that rarely sit within the same career: specialist serious criminal defence, City-based international investigations, and genuine operational experience inside a regulated business.

He is a Grade A VHCC Fraud Supervisor and has acted in some of the UK's most complex and high-value fraud and financial crime matters, including prosecutions and investigations involving hundreds of millions of pounds. His experience encompasses the Serious Fraud Office, National Crime Agency, HM Revenue & Customs, FCA, Trading Standards, Environment Agency and HSE.

Scott's career began in specialist criminal defence, where he developed substantial experience in serious fraud, VHCC and complex criminal litigation. He subsequently developed City-based international investigations experience as an Associate at a leading City practice, advising multinational businesses and financial institutions, including a leading Magnificent Seven technology company, on cyber-enabled fraud and cross-border investigations involving multiple jurisdictions.

Alongside his private practice career, Scott has maintained an advisory relationship with a regulated consumer-facing business since 2016, including a period as its full-time in-house counsel. This provided direct operational responsibility for regulatory compliance and governance from within a business — rather than simply advising on those issues from outside it.

The result is a rare breadth of experience spanning defence, enforcement, prevention and corporate advisory work.

His career has given him a perspective from each side of the business-crime equation: as the defence lawyer managing evidence, prosecution and trial; as the international investigations lawyer coordinating complex matters across jurisdictions; and from inside a regulated business, where compliance, governance and risk management have to operate in practice.

That combination shapes his approach as Head of Business Crime. He advises organisations on how to prevent exposure before an investigation arises, how to respond when regulators or law enforcement come through the door, and how to manage the criminal, regulatory, civil and reputational consequences when they do.

A Distinctive Business Crime Practice

Business crime increasingly sits at the intersection of criminal law, corporate governance, regulation, technology and civil recovery. Scott's career has developed across each of those disciplines. His specialist criminal background provides the litigation and enforcement foundation.

His City experience provides an understanding of multinational investigations, international counsel, regulators and complex electronic evidence. His in-house experience provides an appreciation of how governance, compliance and prevention frameworks operate within a real business and the commercial pressures under which boards and senior management make decisions.

Clients therefore benefit from advice that considers both sides of the enforcement equation: what a business needs to do to prevent and manage risk, and how prosecutors and regulators are likely to approach the business if something goes wrong.

Areas of Expertise

Business Crime & Corporate Criminal Liability

Scott acts for individuals and corporations investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, National Crime Agency, HM Revenue & Customs, FCA, Trading Standards, Environment Agency and HSE.

His experience includes fraudulent trading and conspiracy to defraud prosecutions involving hundreds of millions of pounds, MTIC and carousel VAT fraud, mortgage fraud, bribery and corruption, market manipulation and complex money laundering investigations.

He advises boards, senior management and general counsel on corporate criminal liability, governance and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, including the failure to prevent fraud offence. He can advise on the senior manager attribution test introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026, including its implications for governance, delegation, reporting lines and board oversight.

His work frequently begins at the earliest stage of an investigation, including dawn-raid response, internal investigations, evidence preservation, disclosure strategy, interviews and management of criminal, regulatory and reputational risk.

Proactive Compliance & Corporate Prevention

Scott's practice extends beyond responding to enforcement action.

He advises businesses on the practical implementation of corporate prevention frameworks, assessing their sector, business model, governance arrangements and existing controls against the reasonable procedures requirements applicable to the failure to prevent fraud regime.

His in-house experience provides a particularly practical perspective. He understands the difference between a compliance framework that exists in policy documents and one that is actually embedded within an organisation's decision-making, reporting, training, monitoring and escalation processes. not only on what the law requires, but on how a business can build procedures capable of operating effectively and demonstrating genuine compliance when scrutinised.

Proceeds of Crime, Restraint & Confiscation

Scott acts in restraint proceedings, Account Freezing Orders, confiscation proceedings and civil recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

His experience includes securing a reduction in a client's benefit figure from £10.5 million to £140,000, as well as advising on AFO strategy, asset tracing and freezing-order litigation involving assets and interests across multiple jurisdictions.

Civil Fraud & Cross-Border Asset Recovery

Scott advises on civil fraud and asset recovery matters running alongside criminal or regulatory proceedings.

His experience includes matters involving organised infiltration of regulated professions and conspiracy to defraud sovereign wealth interests. He is experienced in coordinating criminal, civil and regulatory strategies where the same underlying facts create exposure across multiple legal and enforcement regimes.

Cybercrime, Digital Fraud & Technology

As an Associate at a leading City practice, Scott advised multinational technology companies and financial institutions on cyber enabled fraud, regulatory exposure and cross-border investigations, including a leading Magnificent Seven technology company.

He has experience coordinating multiple regulators, law enforcement bodies, international counsel and independent experts, together with managing substantial electronic disclosure and multi-jurisdictional datasets.

His experience includes e-discovery platforms, high-volume evidence review, EMEA-wide investigations, legal professional privilege and data protection considerations arising from international investigations.

Tax Investigations — COP9 & Failure to Prevent Fraud

Scott advises individuals and businesses under HMRC investigation, including Code of Practice 9 matters involving suspected serious tax fraud.

His experience includes HMRC VAT fraud and tax evasion investigations, negotiated settlements and penalty mitigation, together with corporate exposure arising from the failure to prevent fraud regime.

Serious Criminal Defence

Scott's early career in serious criminal defence provided the foundation for his business crime practice.

He has acted across a broad range of serious offending, including theft, fraud, murder, national security matters, major police and regulatory investigations and inquests arising from deaths in institutional or regulated settings.

That experience remains central to his approach. Business crime matters may begin in the boardroom, but ultimately the most serious cases can involve criminal prosecution, contested evidence, witnesses, disclosure, confiscation and imprisonment.

Scott's experience encompasses the full criminal litigation process.