Sofia Dahou and Sam Healey have successfully secured the discharge of an Account Freezing Order (“AFO”), after demonstrating the client was subject to exclusions under the legislation, leading to the police discharging the AFO at their own expense.

The client’s problem: Account Freezing Order

The client, an avid crypto-trader, found themselves faced with an Application from the Police and an order from the Court, restricting their access to a personal account that had been frozen and contained the proceeds from crypto trading, prior to instructing JMW.  

Our client had been trading his crypto-assets on a decentralised platform and relied on that platform’s profile statistics and information for the reliability of the third party whom he was trading with. The Police Application was based on suspicions that the funds were recoverable property or intended for use in unlawful conduct. The Police informed our client, at the time of making their Application, that he had been trading with a wanted fraudster and had received funds, from various third party business accounts which did not deal in crypto-currency, suspected to have derived from criminal activity, unbeknownst to our client.

The Court granted the Police’s Application and froze the client’s account for 6 months, leading the client to seek the assistance of JMW in discharging the order.

How JMW helped

The client instructed JMW and, after raising numerous queries to the Financial Crime Unit of the Police constabulary involved, we conducted a thorough investigation into the origin of the frozen funds, the third party in question and his associated companies, from whom the Police flagged several transactions.

We carried out a meticulous review of the client’s bank statements and trading history whilst liaising with the client about the trading practices undertaken to ensure a clear understanding from the outset.

Utilising our comprehensive understanding of the client’s specific situation, paired with our expertise in the relevant provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, we drafted detailed correspondence outlining the legal arguments and the relevant exclusions our client intended to rely on; we also gathered supporting evidence from our client to demonstrate to the Police that the client’s funds did not represent recoverable property and thus the AFO must be discharged.  

We placed the Police on notice that, in light of the position outlined, they must apply to discharge the AFO by a specified date, failing which, we would proceed with an Application on our client’s behalf and seek a court order for costs on the basis of unreasonable conduct.

Outcome: Account Freezing Order discharged

We were delighted that the Police accepted our submissions and applied to discharge the AFO voluntarily, which the Court approved.  Our client received his frozen funds within days of the Order and prior to the expiry of the original AFO.

In taking this course of action, we avoided the client having to apply to the Court for the release of his frozen funds, therefore keeping the client’s costs incurred to a minimum – an important consideration when dealing with AFOs as there is no automatic entitlement to cost recovery for either party.

We also avoided the need for the client to attend a contested court hearing regarding the frozen funds, securing an expeditious resolution and without the need to instruct any expert witnesses.