City trader Nicholas Levene gets 13-year sentence for £32m Ponzi scam – The Guardian

Posted November 6th, 2012 in confiscation, false accounting, fraud, news, sentencing by sally

“He was the very embodiment of the flash City trader – a self-made millionaire who rode the wave of the 1980s big bang to become a financial player famed for throwing lavish parties attended by celebrities and leading business figures.”

Full story

The Guardian, 5th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Man who hid 14 million cigarettes in refrigerated lorries carrying fruit and vegetables is jailed – The Independent

Posted November 5th, 2012 in confiscation, customs and excise, news, sentencing, tax evasion, VAT by sally

“A freight distribution manager who hid more than 14 million cigarettes in refrigerated lorries carrying fruit and vegetables, to evade an estimated £2.5 million in duty and VAT, has been jailed, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).”

Full story

The Independent, 2nd November 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

R v Varma – WLR Daily

R v Varma [2012] UKSC 42; [2012] WLR (D) 270

“The Crown Court had the power and, in most cases, where the criteria in section 6 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 were satisfied, the duty to make a confiscation order against a defendant following conviction for an offence in respect of which the defendant had received an absolute or a conditional discharge.”

WLR Daily, 10th October 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

R v Varma – headnotes – The Guardian

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, conditional discharge, confiscation, customs and excise, news by sally

“Courts have the power to make confiscation orders where an offender is absolutely or conditionally discharged.”

Full story

The Guardian, 10th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Sumal & Sons (Properties) Ltd – WLR Daily

Regina v Sumal & Sons (Properties) Ltd: [2012] EWCA Crim 1840;  [2012] WLR (D)  247

“A landlord who committed an offence of managing an unlicensed house, contrary to section 95(1) of the Housing Act 2004, did not ‘obtain’ property ‘as a result of or in connection with’ his criminal conduct, for the purposes of section 76(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, by the receipt of rent. Therefore a court sentencing a landlord for such an offence could not impose a confiscation order in the sum of the rent received.”

WLR Daily, 8th August 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Serious Organised Crime Agency v Perry and others; Serious Organised Crime Agency v Perry and others (No 2) – WLR Daily

Serious Organised Crime Agency v Perry and others; Serious Organised Crime Agency v Perry and others (No 2) [2012] UKSC 35; [2012] WLR (D) 238

“A disclosure order obtained in civil recovery proceedings did not authorise sending information notices to persons who were outside the United Kingdom.”

WLR Daily, 25th July 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Wolverhampton Johnson brothers jailed for tax fraud – BBC News

Posted July 27th, 2012 in confiscation, fraud, news, sentencing by sally

“Two ‘notorious’ brothers from Wolverhampton have been jailed for their part in a £34m tax fraud.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th July 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Self-incrimination rights apply if accused has allegedly misused personal information, Supreme Court rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 6th, 2012 in confiscation, evidence, interception, news, self-incrimination by tracey

“Individuals’ right not to self-incriminate themselves is lost if it is alleged that they misused confidential technical or commercial information, the UK Supreme Court has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 5th July 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Regina v Gangar and another – WLR Daily

Posted June 27th, 2012 in appeals, confiscation, fraud, law reports by sally

Regina v Gangar and another [2012] EWCA Crim 1378; [2012] WLR (D) 185

“At the available asset stage of confiscation proceedings involving more than one defendant, a defendant’s partial interest in property was realisable, but had to be limited to his beneficial interest rather than treated as an 100% interest.”

WLR Daily, 21st June 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Car wash owner ordered to handover £60,000 linked to immigration crime – UK Border Agency

“Albanian car wash owner Defrim Paci, has been ordered to handover £60,000 of his criminal earnings after he was found guilty of employing illegal immigrants in the UK and laundering money.”

Full press release

UK Border Agency. 24th May 2012

Source: www.ukba/homeoffice.gov.uk

Regina (Horne and another) v Central Criminal Court – WLR Daily

Posted May 24th, 2012 in confiscation, jurisdiction, law reports, proceeds of crime, sentencing by sally

Regina (Horne and another) v Central Criminal Court [2012] EWHC 1350 (Admin); [2012] WLR (D) 156

“A ‘confiscation investigation’ within Part 8 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 could take place after a confiscation order had been made. Therefore a judge could have jurisdiction to issue a search warrant or disclosure order, pursuant to sections 352 and 357 respectively of the 2002 Act, provided they were limited to investigating the extent or whereabouts of property obtained as a result of or in connection with the commission of an offence.”

WLR Daily, 22nd May 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Bagnall; Regina v Sharma – WLR Daily

Posted April 25th, 2012 in appeals, confiscation, human rights, law reports, proceeds of crime by sally

Regina v Bagnall; Regina v Sharma [2012] EWCA Crim 677; [2012] WLR (D) 118

“Where, in confiscation proceedings, the Crown accused an offender of an additional specific offence for which he had not been prosecuted and adduced evidence to make that accusation good, that did not amount to the bringing of a new charge. Since the defendant was not at risk of any further conviction and there was no finding of guilt, the findings reached by the judge, applying the statutory assumptions, merely went to the amount of the order the court was obliged to make. There was no unfairness in requiring a defendant to show that the source of his assets was legitimate.”

WLR Daily, 18th April 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Courts confiscate firearms and knives in east of England – BBC News

Posted April 10th, 2012 in confiscation, courts, firearms, freedom of information, news, offensive weapons by sally

“Seven firearms, about 50 replica guns and nearly 3,000 knives have been confiscated in courts in the east of England over the past three years, the BBC can reveal.”

Full story

BBC News, 9th April 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ministry of Justice making no progress in collecting fines – The Guardian

Posted March 20th, 2012 in confiscation, fines, news, reports by sally

“About £2bn is due to the Ministry of Justice in uncollected confiscation orders and fines, said a report published on Tuesday.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Ahmad and another – WLR Daily

Posted March 8th, 2012 in appeals, confiscation, fraud, law reports, VAT by sally

Regina v Ahmad and another [2012] EWCA Crim 391; [2012] WLR (D) 62

“Sums banked as the result of the sale or purported sale of goods by a buffer company in the course of a carousel fraud generating false claims for the repayment of VAT were not property obtained ‘in connection with [the] commission’ of the offence within section 71(4) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.”

WLR Daily, 2nd March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Arran Coghlan: Court orders businessman to lose home – BBC News

Posted March 5th, 2012 in confiscation, drug trafficking, money laundering, news by tracey

“A businessman, cleared of three murder charges and drugs dealing, has been ordered to hand his home to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).”

Full story

BBC News, 5th March 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

In re Peacock (Secretary of State for the Home Dept intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted February 24th, 2012 in confiscation, drug trafficking, law reports, proceeds of crime by tracey

In re Peacock (Secretary of State for the Home Dept intervening): [2012] UKSC 5;  [2012] WLR (D)  42

“Where a compensation order had been made against a convicted drug trafficker under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 (which applied where the relevant conviction was before 24 March 2003) to recover an amount equal to his benefit from that criminal activity, but the actual amount of the order was for a lesser sum as being his only realisable assets at the time of conviction, the court could later increase the amount of the order under section 16 of the Act to take account of assets he had legitimately acquired after release from prison.”

WLR Daily, 22nd February 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v James and another – WLR Daily

Posted January 5th, 2012 in appeals, confiscation, law reports, sentencing by tracey

Regina v James and another; [2011] EWCA Crim 2991;  [2011] WLR (D)  389

“Expenditure on scales, machinery parts, rent and wages for casual workers were not sums obtained as a result of or in connection with criminal conduct, in this case the evasion of excise duty on tobacco products, and therefore did not amount to a benefit from criminal conduct for the purposes of section 76(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.”

WLR Daily, 21st December 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Barnett – WLR Daily

Posted January 3rd, 2012 in appeals, confiscation, law reports, prostitution, sentencing by tracey

Regina v Barnett; [2011] EWCA Crim 2936;  [2011] WLR (D)  385

“In relation to proceedings in which a defendant’s benefit from general criminal conduct was assessed the court was ‘entitled’ to make the assumptions provided for in section 10 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 even if the prosecution had not given the written preliminary notice provided for in section 71(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) so held in allowing an appeal by the defendant, Ian Stanley Barnett, against a confiscation order made by Judge Hernandez in the Crown Court at Manchester on 2 February 2011 on the basis of an assessment that the defendant’s financial benefit from his general criminal conduct was £5,085,22·70 and substituting the figure of £873,010.”

WLR Daily, 21st December 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

 

Designated Officer for Sunderland Magistrates Court v Krager and another – WLR Daily

Posted December 16th, 2011 in charging orders, confiscation, enforcement, judgments, law reports by tracey

Designated Officer for Sunderland Magistrates Court v Krager and another: [2011] EWHC 3283 (Ch);  [2011] WLR (D)  367

“The Crown Court did not have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to all aspects of the enforcement of confiscation orders.”

WLR Daily, 14th December 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk