Farzana has extensive experience in corporate crime, internal investigations, civil litigation and regulatory proceedings. As well as prosecuting serious crime, she has advised and acted for a number of government organizations, including the Inland Revenue Department, the NZ Police and the Official Assignee. She has regularly appeared in the District and High Courts.
Farzana began her career at one of New Zealand’s top corporate and finance law firms, working in the commercial litigation team. She then worked as a litigator and Crown prosecutor at the office of the Auckland Crown Solicitor.
Farzana has recently returned to New Zealand after spending over eight years in London, working both in-house and in private practice. Her experience includes working in the London office of an American law firm, in one of the top white-collar crime practices in the world, and for a large multinational investment bank.
Recent and notable work:
Working on one of the largest cross-border internal investigations into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, which resulted in a record-breaking deferred prosecution agreement involving fines and costs amounting to €3.6 billion. The investigation involved the US Department of Justice, the UK Serious Fraud Office and the French Parquet National Financier.
Acting on an internal investigation by a large, multinational bank into the circumstances surrounding a catastrophic systems outage. This was reported to the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Working on an independent, public investigation and statutory inquiry established to examine the circumstances in which patients were given infected blood and blood products in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.
Advising a high net worth family in a private prosecution relating to a failed property renovation in Knightsbridge, London.
Conducting internal regulatory investigations into the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products as a result of failures by the banks to comply with their regulatory obligations, as identified by the Financial Conduct Authority.