Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation is set to claim that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office committed serious failures in its efforts to pursue a criminal investigation into the Kazakh mining giant, and that a former white-collar crime partner at law firm Dechert mis-advised the firm in a bid to generate bigger fees.

The claims against former Dechert partner Neil Gerrard and former SFO directors have been made in ENRC’s court filings, seen by Financial News, in what is set to be a months-long hearing, beginning in a London court on 24 May. ENRC is claiming for £70m in damages from the SFO.