‘New legislation to tackle money laundering and corruption, recover the proceeds of crime and counter terrorist financing was published today.’
Home Office, 13th October 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/home-office
‘Private law firms will be hired by police to pursue criminal suspects for profit, under a radical new scheme to target cyber criminals and fraudsters.’
The Guardian, 14th August 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Fraudster Sean Benson, who went by the screen name “Sir King Cash”, has been ordered to pay back £554,000 by a judge at Southwark Crown Court. Benson now has three months in which to pay back the money or face a further five years in jail. All of the money will be paid back to the victims of the fraud.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 29th July 2016
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘Criminals who have failed to pay the proceeds gained from their crimes should not be released from prison until they have paid up, a new report suggests.’
The Independent, 15th July 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘It should be a separate criminal offence to refuse to hand over money and assets derived from crime, a group of MPs has said. The system for enforcing confiscation orders imposed by the courts is not working, a report by the Home Affairs Select Committee added.’
Home Affairs select committee press release
BBC News, 15th July 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘In 2006 the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obtain property by deception. He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment. In confiscation proceedings his criminal benefit was assessed at over £800,000 but, as he had no available assets, a confiscation order was made in the nominal sum of £1. Subsequently, the defendant having bought a house, the prosecution applied under section 22 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for reconsideration of the available amount. In July 2015 the amount of the confiscation order was varied from £1 to £108,010, the value of the defendant’s equity in the house, with five years’ imprisonment to be served in default of payment. The defendant made a late application for permission to appeal against conviction and sentence. The application was dismissed except that it was adjourned as to two of the proposed grounds of appeal, namely (i) that the default sentence was excessive because, at the time of the offence, the maximum period of imprisonment in default of payment of a confiscation order in relation to a sum between £100,00 and £250,000 was three years and the judge had therefore been wrong to have regard to the increased maximum period provided for in section 10 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 which, by regulation 3(g) of the Serious Crime Act 2015 (Commencement No 1) Regulations 2015 came into force on 1 June 2015; (ii) that the term imposed was manifestly excessive.’
WLR Daily, 30th June 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘A landlord has been sentenced to 17 months in prison suspended for 12 months after she admitted conspiring to defraud a district council.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th June 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The operation by prosecutors of investigation powers within POCA are subject to guidance issued by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland in a code of practice. This code of practice has been revised to take account of certain provisions in the Serious Crime Act 2015 and the full extension of POCA powers to Northern Ireland.’
Attorney General’s Office, 10th June 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/ago
‘A dentist who extracted more than £1 million from patients and friends in property investment con has been jailed for six years.’
Daily Telegraph, 7th June 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘The Home Secretary has set out the most significant changes to the UK’s anti-money laundering and terrorist finance regime in over a decade.’
Home Office, 21st April 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/home-office
‘Civil Recovery claims commenced under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) must be brought under CPR 8 in accordance with paragraph 4.1 of the Civil Recovery Proceedings Practice Direction.’
Judiciary of England and Wales, 15th April 2016
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘Earlier intervention and more formal measures of success are needed if confiscation orders are to be successfully used by the UK courts to deprive fraudsters of the proceeds of their crimes.’
OUT-LAW.com, 20th April 2016
Source: www.out-law.com
Regina v Brooks [2016] EWCA Crim 44
‘Following the seizure of a large consignment of cocaine by the Irish navy, the defendant was convicted in the United Kingdom of conspiracy to import drugs and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. In confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 the recorder ruled that the defendant had a criminal lifestyle for the purposes of section 75 of the 2002 Act. He assessed the defendant’s benefit as being a little over £3·6m, comprising the value of the drugs at just under £3m and a 50% interest in a Spanish property valued at £296,000, and held that the recoverable amount was the same as the benefit figure on the basis that, although the defendant’s identifiable assets amounted to just under £1,400, he had undisclosed assets which he had failed to show were less than his benefit. Accordingly, the recorder made a confiscation order in the sum of the benefit figure. The defendant appealed against the order on the grounds that the recorder had erred in (i) including the value of the drugs in the benefit figure on the basis that the defendant had purchased them or contributed to their purchase, when there was no evidence that the defendant had done so; (ii) including the value of the drugs in the recoverable amount, when they had been seized by the Irish authorities; and (iii) including the value of the property in the recoverable amount, when under Spanish law the defendant’s partner was the legal and equitable owner.’
WLR Daily, 10th March 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Tom Hayes, the former star trader serving an 11-year jail sentence for manipulating Libor interest rates, has been ordered to pay £878,806 after a court ruled the money was the proceeds of crime.’
The Guardian, 23rd March 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The thieves cost farmers thousands and disrupted pedigree bloodlines.’
Daily Telegraph, 6th January 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Sanam v National Crime Agency: [2015] EWCA Civ 1234; [2015] WLR (D) 495
‘There was no basis for concluding that a civil recovery order obtained by the National Crime Agency pursuant to Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in respect of property derived from unlawful conduct would violate the rights of an innocent former wife of the criminal under article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, even though she would be left without any assets if a recovery order was made.’
WLR Daily, 2nd December 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘A landlord who rented out a storage basement as self-contained accommodation for £975 a month after it was declared substandard has been ordered to pay back £70,000 in rent under the Proceeds of Crime Act.’
The Guardian, 22nd October 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A professional diver has been jailed for two years after he falsely claimed to have found three rare 17th-century cannon in international waters so he could sell them to the highest bidder rather than surrendering them to the nation.’
The Guardian, 4th September 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Serious Fraud Office v Saleh [2015] EWHC 2119 (QB); [2015] WLR (D) 368
‘Where the court in another jurisdiction made an order for the restoration of shares to their owner in consequence of the abandonment of forfeiture proceedings by the prosecuting authority in that jurisdiction, the prosecuting authority in the United Kingdom was not prevented from initiating proceedings against the proceeds of sale of those shares located within the United Kingdom.’
WLR Daily, 21st July 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Immigrants living in Britain illegally will face abrupt eviction from rental properties under new laws designed to make Britain a tougher place to live in, the government will announce as it redoubles its response to the Calais migrant crisis.’
The Guardian, 3rd August 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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