The High Court has rejected a novel use of POCA 2002’s cash seizure powers, report Jasvinder Nakhwal & Nicholas Querée
- Bunnvale tested the lawfulness of a strategy deployed by COLP to seize in excess of $21m from a number of offshore firms beneficially owned by Russian companies and nationals.
- COLP decided not to seek a criminal restraint order under Pt 2 of POCA 2002, but sought instead to seize the funds as ‘cash’ pursuant to the summary seizure and detention powers provided by Pt 5, Chapter 3 of POCA 2002.
- The court held that it was not Parliament’s intention when creating POCA 2002’s summary cash detention powers that they would be used to seize cash brought into existence at the instigation of COLP.
Ensuring that the UK economy is not used to launder the proceeds of international organised crime is a key priority of national policymakers and law enforcement. It is right that the police and other investigative agencies are equipped with the powers they need to maintain the integrity of UK markets, and in particular financial markets. Yet, as demonstrated by
