Cryptocurrency expert witness and scam investigations

Yes. This is one of the most common instructions I receive. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) regularly deals with property settlement disputes where one party holds, or is alleged to hold, cryptocurrency. Misunderstandings arise constantly - judges, solicitors and the other party may conflate different assets, misread a block explorer, treat a wallet address as a bank account balance, or not understand the difference between a custodial and non-custodial wallet.

I can be retained as a single expert or a party-appointed expert. My report will:

• Explain the relevant blockchain technology in plain terms for the Court
• Identify which assets are genuinely held versus which have been transferred, spent, lost to scams, or locked in protocols
• Produce on-chain transaction analysis showing the history and current status of wallets
• Address valuation methodology - including how to treat volatile assets, staking rewards, NFTs and DeFi positions
• Respond directly to any factual errors in the other party's evidence or their expert's report

I comply with Part 15.05 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 and the duty to the Court takes precedence over instructions from any party. My reports include the required declaration and annexures.

If time is short - for example a hearing is imminent - contact me directly on 0410 643 121. Urgent preliminary assessments are available.

Yes. I accept instructions to provide expert evidence for the defence in criminal proceedings involving allegations of money laundering, proceeds of crime, and cryptocurrency-related offences. These matters arise in the Magistrates Court, County or District Court, Supreme Court, and Federal Court, as well as in restraint and forfeiture applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) and equivalent state legislation.

A skilled prosecution will rely on blockchain analysis to support its case. The quality of that analysis matters greatly - automated tools used by law enforcement can produce misleading outputs, particularly when transactions involve mixing, chain-hopping between blockchains, or participation in legitimate DeFi or exchange activity that superficially resembles layering.

I can assist the defence by:

• Independently reviewing and critiquing the prosecution's blockchain analysis and any expert reports it relies on
• Explaining where automated tracing tools have misattributed funds or applied risk-scoring heuristics that do not reflect your actual activity
• Providing an alternative, documented technical narrative of the transactions at issue
• Advising on the reliability of the particular blockchain analytics software used by investigators (Chainalysis, CipherTrace, Elliptic and others)
• Preparing a court-compliant expert report and, if required, giving oral evidence

In restraint and forfeiture proceedings, the civil standard of proof applies and early technical evidence can be decisive. Contact me as early as possible so the tracing analysis can be completed before the hearing.

All instructions are confidential. I work closely with instructing solicitors and, where required, with counsel through a brief.

What you are describing is Business Email Compromise (BEC) - specifically the invoice redirection variant, which is the highest-value cybercrime category in Australia. The attacker either compromised your email account, a supplier's account, or created a lookalike email address to intercept and modify the invoice before it reached you.

I provide two services in BEC matters:

Forensic investigation - to establish exactly how the fraud was carried out, who was responsible, and what the technical evidence shows. This covers email header analysis, authentication logs (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), account access records, and the identification of forwarding rules or mailbox modifications left behind by the attacker. The forensic report documents the attack in a form suitable for police, insurer, and court use.

Expert witness - if the matter proceeds to litigation (against your bank, insurer, the negligent party, or the sender's business), I can provide a compliant expert report and give evidence explaining the technical facts to the Court or tribunal.

Timing matters. Email servers retain logs for limited periods and evidence can be lost. Contact me promptly. I can also prepare an urgent technical brief for an AFP referral, which is the fastest pathway to attempt fund recovery.

Ransomware incidents generate a range of legal and regulatory obligations. An independent digital forensic expert can assist you to:

• Establish the facts - how the attacker got in, how long they were in your network before deploying the ransomware, and what data was accessed or exfiltrated. This is essential for making an accurate Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) notification to the OAIC and for any insurance claim.
• Support the insurance claim - cyber insurers appoint their own forensic teams, but an independent expert can verify the scope independently and represent your interests if the insurer disputes the findings or seeks to limit cover.
• Litigation support - if you are pursuing a negligent third party (an MSP, software vendor, or contractor whose systems provided the entry point), or defending a class action from customers whose data was compromised, I can provide expert evidence on the technical aspects of liability and breach scope.
• Sanctions compliance - if you are considering paying a ransom, I can advise on the technical aspects of the threat actor attribution and whether known sanctions apply.

I do not provide incident response retainer services or managed security operations. My role is independent forensic examination and expert evidence. I work alongside your existing IT team or IR provider.

Investment scams - including pig-butchering scams, fake managed trading platforms, and romance-linked investment fraud - very commonly involve cryptocurrency as the payment method. One characteristic of most public blockchains is that transactions are recorded on a public ledger. There are certain forensic techniques that can be employed that may assist in tracking or recovering funds, though outcomes vary depending on the circumstances.

Depending on how the funds were moved, analysis may follow the trail from the wallet address you sent to, through intermediate steps, toward the destination. Where funds have been deposited at a centralised exchange, that may open pathways for a freezing order or court-compelled disclosure request. I will give you a frank assessment of what the analysis can and cannot establish before any report is commissioned.

The report documents the methodology and findings in a form suitable for:

• A complaint to AFCA (if your bank is involved)
• A police referral (AFP or state police)
• Civil recovery proceedings in the Federal Court or a state Supreme Court
• An application for a freezing order or Mareva injunction
• An ASIC complaint if the platform was impersonating a licensed entity

I also investigate the scam platform itself - its domain registration, server infrastructure, branding (which legitimate firm it impersonated), and any other known victims - which strengthens the legal case and can assist law enforcement.

Most public blockchains record transactions on a public ledger. That means a trained analyst can examine the chain and apply certain forensic techniques that may assist in understanding where funds have moved. Whether that analysis can be used in court proceedings, and what it may establish, depends heavily on the specific circumstances of the matter.

I can examine transactions involving Bitcoin, Ethereum (including ERC-20 tokens), USDT/Tether and most other major assets. Any report I prepare sets out the methodology, the tools used, the limitations of the analysis, and what the evidence does and does not support - as required by the applicable expert evidence rules. I will not overstate what the analysis shows.

This kind of analysis has been used in support of:

• Federal Court proceedings (fraud, insolvency, exchange disputes, regulatory enforcement)
• Family Court property settlement disputes (hidden or dissipated assets)
• Criminal proceedings (prosecution and defence)
• AFCA determinations
• Freezing order and asset recovery applications

Before any report is commissioned, I will give you a frank view of what the analysis is likely to show and what it is not likely to show. Some transactions are very difficult to follow and I will tell you that upfront.

Solicitors and barristers can brief me directly. Self-represented parties are also welcome to make contact. The fastest way to reach me is by phone on 0410 643 121, or by email at [email protected].

When you make contact, please include:

• A brief description of the matter and the jurisdiction
• What you need the expert to address (e.g. tracing, critique of prosecution evidence, FCFCOA property settlement)
• Key dates - especially any upcoming hearing dates or filing deadlines
• Whether you need a preliminary view first or a full report

For matters requiring urgent action (a freezing order application, an imminent hearing, or a fresh BEC incident where evidence is at risk), call directly rather than emailing.

You can also use the Case Review form on the main site to submit the initial details.