National Crime Agency v Azam & Ors
2014
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
United Kingdom
CORAM
- MRS JUSTICE ANDREWS DBE
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
2014
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The National Crime Agency (NCA) sought a civil recovery order to reclaim properties and funds acquired through the unlawful conduct of the first respondent, Amir Azam. After detailed examination of evidence, including surveillance records and financial transactions, the court ruled that the properties and funds were indeed obtained through unlawful conduct such as drug dealing and money laundering. The recovered properties include several real estate assets in England and Spain and funds held in Luxembourg bank accounts.
Judgment
Mrs Justice Andrews:
This is a claim for a civil recovery order brought by the National Crime Agency (“the NCA”) formerly known as the Serious Organised Crime Agency (“SOCA”) under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“ POCA ”). The NCA may bring a claim for such an order under s.243(1) of POCA against any person whom it believes to hold recoverable property. “Recoverable property” is defined in s.304(1) as “property obtained through unlawful conduct” and includes property that represents the original property (s.305) and profits accruing in respect of the recoverable property (s.307). Property outside the jurisdiction may be recovered, provided there is a connection between the case and the relevant part of the United Kingdom (s.282A). There is no difficulty in establishing that connection in the present case.
Section 241(1) of POCA provides that “conduct occurring in any part of the United Kingdom is unlawful conduct if it is unlawful under the criminal law of that part.” If conduct occurring outside the UK is relied upon, there is a “double criminality” requirement, in that it must be established that the conduct was a crime under the law of that other country and that it would have been a crime under domestic law if it had occurred within the jurisdiction (s.241(2)). Section 266(1) of POCA obliges the High Court to make a recovery order in circumstances where it is satisfied that the property is recoverable property, subject only to the proviso in s.266(3), to which I shall return in due course.
The right to recover property does not depend on the commission of unlawful conduct by the current holder. All that is required is that the property itself be tainted because it, or other property which it represents, was obtained by unlawful conduct. Since property might be recoverable from someone who is entirely innocent of wrongdoing, the NCA is required to establish clearly that the property in question was obtained by unlawful conduct. It is unnecessary for the NCA to prove the commission of any specified criminal offence, in the sense of proving that a particular person committed a particular offence on a particular occasion. However it is necessary for it to prove that specific property was obtained by or in return for a criminal offence of an identifiable kind or in return for one or other of a number of offences of an identifiable kind: Director of the Assets Recovery Agency v Szepietowski [2007] EWCA (Civ) 766 , [2008] Lloyd’s R