Offenders ‘could have goods seized’ – The Independent

“Offenders could be stripped of prized possessions such as iPods under proposals to give police better powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, the Home Office said today.”

Full story

The Independent, 7th February 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Glaves v Crown Prosecution Service – WLR Daily

Glaves v Crown Prosecution Service [2011] EWCA Civ 69; [2011] WLR (D) 37

“On an application by a defendant for a certificate of inadequacy in relation to a confiscation order under section 83 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 an investigation of the facts was required so that it was not appropriate to determine as a preliminary issue whether the application was bound to fail.”

WLR Daily, 4th February 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Conman who stole £120,000 ordered to repay £1 – Daily Telegraph

“A conman who stole more than £120,000 from customers who thought they were renting holiday villas has been ordered to repay just £1.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 5th January 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina v Constantine – WLR Daily

Regina v Constantine [2010] EWCA Crim 2406; [2010] WLR (D) 28

“A court had to take account of a confiscation order before making any order ‘involving payment by the defendant’ of costs relating to all of the proceedings that had gone on thus far.”

WLR Daily, 10th November 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Drug dealer stripped of £550,000 assets – The Independent

“A jailed drug dealer was stripped of more than half a million pounds of assets today – including his house, yacht and three flats.”

Full story

The Independent, 15th October 2010

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Regina v Ward (Barry) – WLR Daily

Regina v Ward (Barry) [2010] WLR (D) 191

“The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal against a refusal by a judge in the Crown Court, on an application under s 23 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, to vary a confiscation order.”

WLR Daily, 16th July 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Courts owed £1.3bn in unpaid fines, audit reveals – BBC News

“Courts in England and Wales are owed £1.3bn in unpaid fines, confiscation and compensation orders.”

Full story

BBC News, 5th July 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

BNP faces financial turmoil if found in contempt of court – The Guardian

“Fresh from its disastrous showing at the ballot box on 6 May, the British National party now faces financial turmoil with its assets threatened by court action. The high court is to decide whether Nick Griffin and two other BNP officials should face contempt of court proceedings in which their assets could be confiscated under a ‘writ of sequestration’. The assets include Griffin’s MEP salary, investments and pensions and any property that they might own. The case shows that no political party is above the law.”

Full story

The Guardian, 28th June 2010

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v White; Regina v Dennard; Regina v Perry; Regina v Rowbotham – WLR daily

Regina v White; Regina v Dennard; Regina v Perry; Regina v Rowbotham [2010] EWCA Crim 978; [2010] WLR (D) 120

“For the purposes of tobacco smuggling cases there was unlikely to be any incompatibility between the rules which made those liable under the Excise Goods (Holding, Movement, Warehousing and REDS) Regulations 1992 or the Tobacco Products Regulations 2001 to pay duty and those made liable by Council Directive 92/12/EEC.”

WLR Daily, 12th May 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Neish – WLR Daily

Regina v Neish [2010] EWCA Crim 1011; [2010] WLR (D) 116

“The process whereby a judge gave instructions to the court listing office to relist the hearing of confiscation proceedings amounted to a postponement of the proceedings by the court of its own motion and was a valid postponement for the purposes of s 14 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.”

WLR Daily, 7th May 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

 

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

R v Modjiri – WLR Daily

R v Modjiri [2010] EWCA Crim 829; [2010] WLR (D) 99

“The concern of s 79(3) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is limited to the valuation of property and does not extend to the realisation of property, so that it does not have to be assumed that a beneficial interest in property has to be sold separately from the property and, for the purposes of making a confiscation order, the correct basis on which to proceed is to take into account the due proportion of the proceeds which the defendant would receive on sale of the property.”

WLR Daily, 23rd April 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office v Piggott (Lamb interested party) – WLR Daily

Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office v Piggott (Lamb interested party) [2010] EWCA Civ 285; [2010] WLR (D) 84

“A court had jurisdiction to make a management receivership order over any property on the basis that it was realisable property where an issue was still to be determined between the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office and an interested third party as to the beneficial interest in such property.”

WLR Daily, 22nd March 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Iqbal – WLR Daily

Regina v Iqbal [2010] WLR (D) 23

“An application for the time for proceedings for a confiscation order to be postponed, or for a postponement to be extended, may be made only during the permitted period provided for in s 14 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.”

WLR Daily, 4th February 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Bonuses for lawyers who seize criminal assets ‘risk undermining justice’ – The Times

“Crown Prosecution Service lawyers are receiving personal bonuses linked to their success in confiscating criminal assets, The Times has learnt.”

Full story

The Times, 31st October 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Tobacco smugglers ‘due payouts’ – BBC News

“Thousands of tobacco smugglers could be due compensation because their assets were wrongly confiscated, customs officials have admitted.”

Full story

BBC News, 20th August 2009

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

R v Nelson; R v Pathak; R v Paulet – WLR Daily

R v Nelson; R v Pathak; R v Paulet [2009] EWCA Crim 1573; [2009] WLR (D) 266

“Confiscation proceedings properly taken in accordance with statutory provisions should not be stayed as an abuse of process on the ground that the judge considered that they might produce an oppressive result.”

WLR Daily, 30th July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Knaggs – WLR Daily

Regina v Knaggs [2009] EWCA Crim 1363; [2009] WLR (D) 239

“A defendant who had pleaded guilty to an offence without any challenge to the facts by way of a Newton hearing was not thereby debarred, as a matter of law, from challenging the prosecution evidence for the purposes of a confiscation hearing.”

WLR Daily, 14th July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Seager; Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Blatch – WLR Daily

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Seager; Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Blatch [2009] EWCA Crim 1303; [2009] WLR (D) 220

“Where a confiscation order was made pursuant to s 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 or s 6(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 against a defendant in respect of his benefit from his criminal conduct in respect of an offence of acting in contravention of an order or undertaking disqualifying him from being a company director, that benefit was not simply to be assessed as the turnover of the relevant company, but as the value of the property obtained by the defendant himself, as determined in accordance with ordinary common law principles of entitlement and ownership.”

WLR Daily, 1st July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Clarke (Joseph) – Times Law Reports

Regina v Clarke (Joseph)

Court of Appeal

“Where a defendant had been sentenced to an absolute or conditional discharge, the crown court had no power to impose a confiscation order.”

The Times, 1st July 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Seager; Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Blatch – WLR Daily

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Seager; Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v Blatch [2009] EWCA Crim 1303; [2009] WLR (D) 215

“Where a confiscation order was made pursuant to s 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 or s 6(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 against a defendant in respect of his benefit from his criminal conduct for the offence of acting in contravention of an order or undertaking disqualifying him from being a company director, that benefit was not simply to be assessed as the turnover of the relevant company, but as the value of the property obtained by the defendant himself, as determined in accordance with ordinary common law principles of entitlement and ownership.”

WLR Daily, 30th June 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

R v Clarke (Joseph) – WLR Daily

R v Clarke (Joseph) [2009] EWCA Crim 1074; [2009] WLR (D) 188

“The Crown Court had no power to impose a confiscation order against a defendant following conviction of an offence for which he or she had been sentenced by way of an absolute or conditional discharge.”

WLR Daily, 16th June 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Islam – Times Law Reports

Regina v Islam

House of Lords

“It was consistent with both the language and spirit of the statutory scheme for making confiscation orders for the importation of prohibited drugs to take account of the black market value of such drugs when valuing the benefit obtained by the defendant at the time of their illegal importation.”

Times Law Reports, 12th June 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

R v Islam – WLR Daily

R v Islam [2009] UKHL 30; [2009] WLR (D) 177

“When assessing the ‘market value’ of goods for the purposes of making a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the court was not restricted to looking at the value of the goods in a legitimate market but was required to look at the nature of the goods and the context it which the assessment was being made. If the only market in which the goods in question could be bought and sold was an illegitimate one, the court was entitled to take account of the price which a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller in that illegitimate market in order to assess the benefit obtained by the defendant.”

WLR Daily, 10th June 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Defendant escapes confiscation because no advocate would take legal aid fee – Law Society’s Gazette

“A defendant has escaped confiscation proceedings because she was unable to find an advocate willing to accept the legal aid rate to represent her. The court’s decision, upheld in the Court of Appeal, will fuel an ongoing dispute over the levels of legal aid fees.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 4th June 2009

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Remuneration for Confiscation – The Bar Council

“On 29 April 2009 the House of Lords confirmed that the prosecution are entitled in confiscation proceedings (i) to prove that the defendant had committed offences other than those to which he had pleaded or in respect of which he had been convicted and (ii) to invite the court to estimate the profit that he must have made from those offences:  R. v. Briggs-Price [2009] UKHL 19.”

Full press release

The Bar Council, 8th May 2009

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

R v Briggs-Price – WLR Daily

R v Briggs-Price [2009] UKHL 19; [2009] WLR (D) 142

“A confiscation order could be made under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 in respect of benefit derived from drug trafficking other than that of which the defendant had been convicted which had been established by evidence during the trial.”

WLR Daily, 1st May 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Briggs-Price – Times Law Reports

Regina v Briggs-Price

House of Lords

“A confiscation order could be made against a convicted drug trafficker in respect of benefit received from other drug trafficking which had not been charged on the indictment but which had been established by evidence during the trial.”

The Times, 30th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Regina v Khan Regina v Lockett; Regina v Carrington – Times Law Reports

Regina v Khan Regina v Lockett; Regina v Carrington

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

“Confiscation orders made under old regulations in tobacco-smuggling cases had to be quashed because the prosecuting authority had overlooked the fact that new regulations had narrowed the categories of persons liable to pay excise duty.”

The Times, 23rd April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Regina v Winters – Times Law Reports

Regina v Winters

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

“For the purpose of making the required assumptions in order to determine whether a defendant had benefited from drug trafficking, the Crown was required to prove on the balance of probabilities that the defendant had made payments out of payments received by him in connection with his drug trafficking. Prima facie evidence that the defendant had incurred such expenditure was insufficient.”

The Times, 12th January 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

R v Winters – WLR Daily

R v Winters:[2008] EWCA Crim 2953; [2008] WLR (D) 387

“For the purpose of making the required assumptions in relation to determining whether the defendant had benefited from drug trafficking, the Crown was required to prove on the balance of probabilities that expenditure on mortgage payments was incurred by the defendant out of payments received by him in connection with his drug trafficking. Prima facie evidence that the defendant had incurred such expenditure was insufficient.”

WLR Daily, 15th December 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina v Moulden – Times Law Reports

Regina v Moulden

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

“The words ‘proceedings before the crown court’ in section 6(2)(a) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 meant proceedings under a single indictment. The expression did not cover everything, in whatever form, before the court on the date when sentence was to be imposed.”

The Times, 26th November 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Court cuts ‘compromising judges’ – BBC News

“A leading judge has told the BBC he fears a conflict of interest as courts increasingly depend on income from fines and confiscations to operate.”

Full story

BBC News, 18th November 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Grayson v United Kingdom – Times Law Reports

Grayson v United Kingdom

European Court of Human Rights

“It was not incompatible with the notion of a fair hearing in criminal proceedings for the onus of proof to be placed on the accused to provide a credible account of his financial situation, once it has been proved that he had been involved in extensive and lucrative drug dealing over a period of years.”

The Times, 2nd October 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Police must repay money taken from cleric’s son – The Independent

“The police have been ordered to return £14,000 they confiscated from the son of an exiled Muslim cleric after a judge ruled the cash was not intended for ‘terrorist purposes’.

Full story

The Independent, 19th September 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Serious Fraud Office v Lexi Holdings plc (in Administration) and Another – The Times

Serious Fraud Office v Lexi Holdings plc (in Administration) and Another

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

“A restraint order should not be varied to allow for the payment of a debt to an unsecured creditor.”

The Times, 18th August 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Serious Fraud Office v Lexi Holdings plc (in Administration) and M – WLR Daily

Serious Fraud Office v Lexi Holdings plc (in Administration) and M [2008] EWCA Crim 1443; [2008] WLR (D) 235

“A restraint order should not be varied so as to allow for the payment of a debt to an unsecured creditor unless there was no conflict with the object of satisfying any confiscation order that had been or might be made.”

WLR Daily, 11th July 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Gibson v Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office – Times Law Reports

Gibson v Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office

Court of Appeal

“When a confiscation order was made against a convicted drug dealer, his wife was entitled to keep her 50 per cent interest in the matrimonial home, despite a finding in the confiscation proceedings that she had guilty knowledge of the source of her husband’s wealth. The court had no power to supplement the provisions of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 so as to bring her share of the equity in the matrimonial home within the order.”

The Times, 14th July 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Jailed marine hose executives ordered to repay £1m – The Times

“Two businessmen jailed last month in the UK’s first price-fixing prosecution have been ordered to surrender over £1 million of assets at a confiscation hearing.”

Full story

The Times, 1st July 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Appeal court says criminals’ wives’ assets untouchable – The Independent

“Millions of pounds worth of criminal assets, including luxury homes and jewellery, will remain out of the reach of the state after a landmark ruling by the Appeal Court.”

Full story

The Independent, 23rd June 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Gibson v Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office – WLR Daily

Gibson v Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office [2008] EWCA Civ 645; [2008] WLR (D) 189

“The wife of a convicted drug dealer was entitled to keep her interest in the matrimonial home despite a finding in confiscation proceedings that she had guilty knowledge of the source of her husband’s wealth. The Drug Trafficking Act 1994 did not give the court power to bring her share of the equity in the matrimonial home within the confiscation order, since the assets were hers without any court order in her favour.”

WLR Daily, 12th June 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Jennings v Crown Prosecution Service – WLR Daily

Jennings v Crown Prosecution Service [2008] UKHL 29; [2008] WLR (D) 153

“Orders for the confiscation criminal assets, or orders restraining the disposal of property pending the hearing of a confiscation order, were to be made in respect of property which the person had actually obtained, not property he had merely helped others to obtain.”

WLR Daily, 16th May 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

R v Green – WLR Daily

R v Green [2008] UKHL 30; [2008] WLR (D) 152

“The Drug Trafficking Act 1994 fell to be construed without regard to legislation in other countries which had chosen to give effect to common international obligations in a different way.”

WLR Daily, 16th May 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

R v May – WLR Daily

R v May [2008] UKHL 28; [2008] WLR (D) 151

“Where co-defendants had jointly received property as a result of criminal activity, each was liable to receive a confiscation order representing the entire value, as if he had acted alone, provided he had sufficient assets to meet the order.”

WLR Daily, 16th May 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Jennings v Crown Prosecution Service – Times Law Reports

Jennings v Crown Prosecution Service

House of Lords

“Confiscation orders, or restraint of property orders pending the making of such orders, were to be made in respect of property which the person had actually obtained, not that he had merely helped others to obtain.”

The Times, 19th May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Regina v May – Times Law Reports

Regina v May

House of Lords

“Where codefendants had jointly received property as a result of criminal activity, each was liable to receive a confiscation order representing the entire value, as if he had acted alone, provided he had sufficient assets to meet the order.”

The Times, 15th May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Drugs offender keeps £4.5m after 30 barristers refuse to take case – The Times

“A convicted drugs offender has escaped a confiscation order for up to £4.5 million of his assets because legal aid barristers would not take on the case for the fixed fee of £175.25 a day.”

Full story

The Times, 6th May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Soca ‘failed’ to freeze cash of top criminals – Daily Telegraph

“Police have yet to use powers to freeze suspected gangsters’ finances two years after the high-profile launch of an agency to tackle serious crime.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 17th March 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Tougher measures for drug dealers – BBC News

“Suspected drug dealers’ assets could be seized on arrest, rather than charge, under ministers’ new drugs strategy.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th February 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Drug dealers to have assets seized on arrest – Daily Telegraph

“Police will be able to seize high-value assets from suspected drug dealers as soon as they are arrested under plans to be unveiled this week by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th February 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Bailiffs ‘unlawfully enter homes’ – BBC News

“Bailiffs are illegally entering homes to confiscate people’s possessions, the National Debtline has warned.”

Full story

BBC News, 19th January 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Corrupt MoD official can keep £1.5m – The Guardian

“A corrupt civil servant behind one of the biggest frauds in Whitehall history has managed to avoid paying anything towards a £1.5m confiscation order because the Crown Prosecution Service delayed enforcing it for 11 years, the Guardian has learned.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th January 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Court orders jailed financier to surrender £41m – The Times

“Gerald Smith, a doctor-turned-financier who is serving eight years in prison for defrauding an internet business, was ordered to surrender £41 million yesterday in the largest confiscation order in British criminal proceedings.”

Full story

The Times, 14th November 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

R (Faithfull) v Crown Court at Ipswich – WLR Daily

R (Faithfull) v Crown Court at Ipswich [2007] EWHC 2229 (Admin)

“Confiscation and compensation orders made in criminal proceedings in the Crown Court were not amenable to judicial review and nothing in the Human Rights Act 1998 required that they should be.”

WLR Daily, 26th October 2007

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Crime assets agency ‘ill-planned’ – BBC News

“The setting up of a government agency to seize criminals’ wealth was ill-planned and unrealistic, an influential group of MPs has said.”

Full story

BBC News, 11th October 2007

Source: www.bbc.co.uk  

‘Impoverished’ fraudster accused of hiding £33m – The Times

“Britain’s worst tax fraudster is using ‘smoke and mirrors’ to avoid paying back his illegally-gained fortune, a court heard yesterday.”

Full story

The Times, 19th September 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk