Foreword

• Author: Mark Sandler
• Pages: 17-18

xvii

Foreword

Fraud is a truly unique oence—from the perspective of all participants in the criminal

justice system. A competent fraud investigation usually involves the collection, organ-

ization, and assimilation of many documents, enlisting the assistance or direction of

Crown counsel in preparing and obtaining production orders or search warrants.

Sometimes, the evidence may only be properly assessed through the involvement of

a skilled forensic accountant. Prosecutors untrained in economics or advanced account-

ing may have diculty in determining whether a case for prosecution even exists and,

once past that hurdle, are confronted with issues around disclosure of dozens of

banker’s boxes filled with documents or their electronic counterparts, and around

readying themselves for trial in a timely way. Defence counsel may be engaged early

in the process due to concerns identified by employers or regulators about their clients’

activities which require pre-emptive action. They too may struggle to make head or

tail of the avalanche of documents disclosed to them. Complex issues surrounding

compelled testimony secured from suspects by regulators, the legitimacy of searches

disgorging thousands of documents, and forfeiture provisions of the Criminal Code

(themselves little understood) may challenge the confidence of even the most experi-

enced counsel. Simply put, the prosecution and defence of fraud cases is not for the

faint of heart.

Here is a text—easy to read, well organized, and thoughtful—which provides much-

needed guidance to Crown and defence counsel on the nuances surrounding fraud and

related cases. It addresses the full range of issues associated with these dicult cases,

from pre-charge strategies to sentencing alternatives. It is able to do so through the

authorship of two highly skilled and experienced criminal litigators—one, a member

of the defence bar; the other, a seasoned fraud prosecutor (a category of prosecutors

itself in short supply).

The text does not purport to provide a primer applicable to every kind of criminal

case. Instead, as its title reflects, it is confined to the dicult issues that Crowns and

defence counsel confront—often in tandem—in prosecuting or defending individuals

or companies charged with fraud.

Topics include document admissibility, restitution and forfeiture, regulatory issues,

and so many others. As is hopefully evident by now, these topics are either unique to

fraud cases or are applied in unique ways to these cases. Either way, this text is an

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