Category: confiscation

Regina v Bestel; Regina v Raza; Regina v Bashir – WLR Daily

Posted July 23rd, 2013 in appeals, confiscation, law reports, sentencing, time limits by tracey

Regina v Bestel;  Regina v Raza;  Regina v Bashir [2013] EWCA Crim 1305 ; [2013] WLR (D) 296

“A change in the law since the date of conviction or plea of guilty was not regarded as good reason for granting an extension of time in which to appeal unless substantial injustice would follow from application of the principle of finality. In cases in which the benefit from criminal conduct had been assessed on a basis which was, if considered in the light of a change in the law, disproportionate, substantial injustice would not be established if an application to the Crown Court for rescission of the confiscation order would ameliorate the stringency of the application of the finality principle.”

WLR Daily, 19th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Harvey – WLR Daily

Posted July 9th, 2013 in appeals, confiscation, crime, law reports, sentencing, valuation by sally

Regina v Harvey [2013] EWCA Crim 1104; [2013] WLR (D) 268

“If a defendant obtained chattels as a result of his criminal conduct and used them over a substantial period, materially reducing their value before restoring them to their true owners, the court should not give credit for their residual value when making a confiscation order.”

WLR Daily, 3rd July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Jawad – WLR Daily

Posted June 4th, 2013 in appeals, benefits, compensation, confiscation, law reports, proceeds of crime, proportionality by sally

Regina v Jawad [2013] EWCA Crim 644; [2013] WLR (D) 209

“There was no mandatory duty to take the confiscation order made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 into account when deciding on a compensation order, but the question of compensation might have been relevant to disproportion, if compensation meant that money restored to the loser would have been counted again in the confiscation order, so it was necessary to consider both issues together.”

WLR Daily, 3rd May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Illegal waste boss jailed after arrest on Heathrow runway – The Guardian

Posted May 28th, 2013 in confiscation, news, proceeds of crime, sentencing, waste by sally

“A 55-year old man was arrested on the runway of Heathrow airport as he tried to flee the country to avoid paying back the proceeds of his illegal waste business.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Johal – WLR Daily

Posted May 16th, 2013 in appeals, confiscation, criminal procedure, delay, law reports by sally

Regina v Johal [2013] EWCA Crim 647; [2013] WLR (D) 175

“When a court postponed confiscation proceedings the omission of a ‘specified period’ of postponement was plainly a procedural rather than a substantive error so that a court would not be deprived of its duty to make a confiscation order where such a breach did not prejudice the defendant in any way. Alternatively, if such a failure was indeed procedural it would fall within the ambit of section 14(11) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 which stipulated that such a failure should not be the basis for quashing an otherwise valid confiscation order.”

WLR Daily, 19th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Important guidance on criminal confiscation: R v Mahmood – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted April 25th, 2013 in appeals, confiscation, criminal procedure, news, proceeds of crime by sally

“The recent Court of Appeal judgment in R v Mahmood [2013] EWCA 325 provides important guidance on several important issues which often arise in criminal confiscation proceedings before the Crown Court.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 24th April 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Regina v Hampshire County Council – WLR Daily

Posted March 26th, 2013 in abuse of process, confiscation, law reports, local government, proportionality, sentencing, trade marks by sally

Regina v Hampshire County Council [2013] WLR (D) 117

“There was no reason to stay confiscation proceedings where a trademark offence had been committed, because trademark offences were lifestyle, repeat offences, which did real damage to those entitled to the profits of a trademark and deprived the manufacturers of the legitimate fruits of the research and development of their product and it was proceeds which mattered rather than blame.”

WLR Daily, 20th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Mahmood – WLR Daily

Posted March 26th, 2013 in confiscation, conspiracy, crime, law reports, proceeds of crime, sentencing by sally

Regina v Mahmood [2013] EWCA Crim 325; [2013] WLR (D) 116

“When calculating the expenditure incurred during a conspiracy, the statutory assumption in section 10(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 did not mean that each conspirator was treated as having incurred all of the expenditure and evidence was required about the particular conspirator who had incurred it.”

WLR Daily, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

R v Druce – why the truth alone is not always enough – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted February 19th, 2013 in appeals, confiscation, criminal justice, news by sally

“The judgment of the Court of Appeal in R v Druce [2013] EWCA 40 delivered on 31 January is a stark lesson in how confiscation proceedings can go badly wrong for an ill-prepared defendant.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 19th February 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Isle of Wight £90m cocaine yacht trial: Two men jailed – BBC News

Posted January 30th, 2013 in confiscation, drug trafficking, news, sentencing by sally

“Two men caught in possession of £90m worth of cocaine on a yacht off the Isle of Wight have been jailed.”

Full story

BBC News, 30th January 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Robert Coulson jailed for smuggling cannabis – BBC News

Posted January 25th, 2013 in confiscation, drug trafficking, news, recidivists, sentencing by tracey

” 71-year-old man who admitted trying to smuggle more than £168,000 worth of
cannabis through a ferry port has been jailed for three years and nine months.”

Full story

BBC News, 25th January 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Isle of Wight £90m cocaine yacht trial: Piotr Pachnia guilty – BBC News

Posted January 24th, 2013 in confiscation, drug trafficking, news by sally

“A man has been found guilty of possessing £90m of cocaine found hidden on a yacht off the Isle of Wight.”

Full story

BBC News, 23rd January 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Almost £2 billion in court fines and confiscation orders remain unpaid – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 21st, 2013 in assets recovery, confiscation, courts, debts, fines, news by sally

“Nearly £2 billion in court fines and confiscation orders remain unpaid, official figures show, as the Government admitted it needed to do more to tackle the debt.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 19th January 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Rich crooks net vast legal aid sums – BBC News

Posted November 26th, 2012 in assets recovery, budgets, confiscation, costs, drug offences, fraud, legal aid, news by sally

“Dozens of super-rich criminals – some worth tens of millions – have received vast sums in legal aid despite their illicit fortunes, an investigation has revealed.”

Full story

BBC News, 26th November 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The right of property under A1P1- Supreme Court sees that it has teeth – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted November 19th, 2012 in confiscation, human rights, mortgages, news, proceeds of crime by sally

“Traditionally, the qualified right to peaceful possession of property conferred by Article 1 of the 1st Protocol (A1P1) has been thought of as a rather feeble entitlement, easily outweighed by public interests. After all, every day of the week, the modern state affects that right – think taxes or planning restrictions, or business bans arising out of public health concerns (e.g. see here), where removal and confiscation or restriction on what we do with property is readily accepted. Last week the Supreme Court ruled that the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) needs a bit of remedial HR surgery as and when its blunderbuss rules would otherwise have a disproportionate effect on those affected. But the importance of the ruling extends far beyond the specific statutory context.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 18th November 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Regina v Waya – WLR Daily

Posted November 16th, 2012 in confiscation, fraud, human rights, law reports, mortgages, proceeds of crime by tracey

Regina v Waya: [2012] UKSC 51;   [2012] WLR (D)  324

“The statutory object of Part 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was to remove from a defendant the proceeds of his crime and a confiscation order made thereunder was not intended to be an additional financial penalty similar to a fine. A confiscation order which was disproportionate to the benefit obtained by the defendant from his crime would be a violation of article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. However section 6(5) of the 2002 Act could, pursuant to section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998, be read and given effect in a manner which was compatible with the rights under article 1.”

WLR Daily, 24th October 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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

Posted October 12th, 2012 in conditional discharge, confiscation, Crown Court, law reports, proceeds of crime by sally

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