Section 303Z1 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 permits certain agencies, including the Police, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), to apply to freeze accounts held with a bank, building society, e-money provider or payment institution where balances exceed £1,000 if the funds are suspected to be either the proceeds of criminal conduct or intended for use in unlawful conduct.
An Account Freezing Order can be granted for up to two years.
The intention of the agency applying for the Account Freezing Order is usually to prevent the dissipation of the funds while they investigate the origins of the money, with a view to commencing a potential prosecution or a Forfeiture Application.
Frequently, the holder of the account will be unaware of an application for the Account Freezing Order as these are often heard by a Court without notice to the Respondent. The first the account holder knows about it, is when they cannot access funds in their account!
Occasionally, the agency applying to the account holder will give an account holder just a few days notice of a pending application due to be heard in Court.
We can assist clients who face the misfortune of having their bank account frozen or an upcoming application for an Account Freezing Order. In some cases it is possible to obtain and collate the relevant evidence to demonstrate that the funds in the account are legitimately held and present this to the body who has applied for the Account Freezing Order along with persuasive representations, so that they are satisfied and agree to the Order being discharged.
Alternatively, or if this fails, we can represent account holders in Court and oppose the application or apply for the Account Freezing Order to be discharged, if it has already been made.
Please contact us if you would like to speak to a specialist financial crime solicitor.
Read more about our White Collar and Financial Crime team.
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