Lucy Reynolds and Lily Beweley-West have successfully assisted an interested party in cash forfeiture proceedings brought by the NCA. The client, a wholesaler of designer goods, had instructed their agents to collect a sum of cash, in order purchase goods from a market supplier in Europe. The agents were stopped at a major UK airport, and the cash seized on suspicion that the client was involved in an international criminal conspiracy to distribute counterfeit designer goods in various countries.

Lucy and Lily prepared a detailed written account with a substantial amount of supporting evidence, demonstrating the legitimacy of the cash and the business’s trade. They also challenged the accuracy of a significant piece of evidence, namely written transcriptions and translations of intercepted telephone call recordings by the Italian authorities, which had been obtained via mutual legal assistance.

Shortly before the deadline for the NCA to provide copies of the original intercepted telephone call recordings, it was confirmed that the proceedings would be discontinued and the funds returned immediately. The proceedings had been ongoing for over two years.