Bonifassi Avocats

Founder: Stepháne Bonifassi

Number of Partners: 1

Number of Lawyers: 8

Languages: English, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Turkish, German, Romanian

Firm Overview:  

Bonifassi Avocats is a Paris-based law firm that operates internationally and demonstrates a deep understanding of legal systems and procedures worldwide, as well as a commitment to personal accessibility and responsiveness. The result is consistently nimble, efficient and effective performance for clients.

The firm focuses on five practice areas: fraud and asset recovery, internal corporate investigations, criminal defence, sanctions and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. To each specialty the Bonifassi Avocats team brings a wealth of experience and technical expertise as well as a global support network of attorneys, investigators, forensic professionals and litigation communication consultants.

Main Areas of Practice: 

Fraud and Asset Recovery: In the fraud and asset recovery area, Bonifassi Avocats acts for victims of embezzlement, white collar and State corruption, money-laundering and other financial crimes. This is an inherently international practice because of the need to trace pilfered assets that are electronically transported to offshore havens.

To reclaim those assets, the team conducts in-depth investigations so as to identify and pursue perpetrators and third parties who participate, either knowingly or negligently, in schemes of embezzlement or concealment. These actions must decisively counter adversarial insolvency organizations and aggressive asset-protection schemes. At times it is necessary to expose companies that serve as fronts for fraud.

Bonifassi Avocats has developed a sophisticated toolkit that is adaptable to virtually any complex investigation and litigation scenario in France and on the transnational stage. Often, civil, insolvency and receivership, and criminal proceedings are initiated to root out the fraud, trace the misappropriated assets, seize them and block their further transfer and secretion, and, finally, recover funds to accomplish restitution. Making the victimized client whole is always the primary goal.

Recent case: Mukhtar Ablyazov is accused of defrauding a Kazakhstan bank, BTA, of billions of dollars while he was chairman of that bank. It is considered one of the largest frauds ever, estimated at US$6 billion or more. After France refused to extradite Ablyazov to Russia, we facilitated, on the basis of the “extradite or prosecute” principle, the launch of a criminal investigation in France, where we represent BTA as a civil party. The investigating judge has placed Ablyazov under examination.

Internal Corporate Investigations: For corporations facing heightened corruption risks, Bonifassi Avocats provides risk-reduction and prevention counsel that may involve internal investigations. The firm either conducts these sensitive and confidential probes itself, or, assists major international firms by providing independent expertise in criminal law.

Recent case: Prompted by the French National Financial Prosecutor, an investigating judge ordered a search of the headquarters of an international company (the identity is confidential). This action had followed an article in a French economic daily in which a former consultant for the multinational made allegations of widespread corruption involving its Russian subsidiary. Bonifassi Avocats was asked to contact the investigating judge and formulate a plan for an internal investigation. While the matter is pending, we are making strides at changing any perception of the company as a bad corporate actor; it is, instead, a victim.

Financial Crime Defence: The Bonifassi Avocat team’s expertise also extends to business and financial crime defence, particularly in an international context. Team members are called upon regularly to provide legal opinions on criminal law for proceedings outside France. They apply their knowledge of mutual legal assistance and extradition within a cross-border context.

Bonifassi Avocats defends clients in criminal courts and represents them before financial regulators. The firm also defends against confiscation, forfeiture and criminal freeze orders. For corporations with heightened corruption risks, the team provides crucial counsel on risk-reduction, prevention and mitigation. This advice may lead to Bonifassi Avocats conducting internal investigations, either independently or along with major international firms.

For corporations with heightened corruption risks, the team provides crucial counsel on risk-reduction, prevention and mitigation. The advice may lead to Bonifassi Avocats conducting internal investigations, or assisting major international firms.

Recent Case: The firm represents Tsunekazu Takeda, a former president of the Japanese Olympic Committee. A criminal probe is pending in France concerning how Tokyo was selected as host city for the 2020 Olympic games. An investigating judge has placed Mr. Takeda under examination. The allegation is that the bidding committee over which he presided gave a US$2.3 million bribe to a member of the International Olympic Committee in exchange for supporting Tokyo’s bid to host over that of Istanbul or Madrid. The jurisdictions involved include France, Singapore, Japan and Senegal.

Enforcement: Bonifassi Avocats has vast experience in France with the domestication and enforcement of foreign judgments, including insolvency judgments and receiverships, arbitral awards and confiscation orders. Representing State creditors, the team successfully works around immunity protections to ensure that creditors are paid what they are owed.

Recent Case: Bonifassi Avocats is representing the English trustees of Boris Berezovsky’s estate. A property in Cap d’Antibes valued at more than €120M was confiscated during French criminal proceedings. French courts found that the proceeds of a fraud against a company owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich were used to acquire the Cap d’Antibes property. Although the confiscation order is final, the firm is endeavoring to convince the French government that the estate has priority over the criminal confiscation order.

Sanctions: Lastly, Bonifassi Avocats has vast experience assisting clients in France who are faced with European Union sanctions and export-control challenges. The firm represents persons listed by the European Union in efforts to get them delisted. It enables creditors of sanctioned entities to access frozen funds. As an example of success in this area, Bonifassi Avocats obtained a judgement to unfreeze funds after the French Ministry of Finance refused to do so. For the same purpose, the firm represents creditors with the European Court of Justice.

Recent Case: Bonifassi Avocats is representing Gennady Timchenko, a Russian and Finnish individual who was placed on the EU sanctions list, in proceedings before the General Court of the European Union to get him delisted.