33 Chancery Lane has particular strengths in restraint and confiscation cases and is ‘unsurpassed in quality for POCA related work‘. The set has recently been involved in numerous anti-money laundering matters, such as R v Baldwin, where Fiona Jackson acted on behalf of the Financial Conduct Authority in a rare confiscation order under s.27 of POCA in which the defendant was convicted in absence and remains at large. Catherine Collins also advised the Financial Conduct Authority in litigation concerning Operation Tiverton, a financial investigation regarding an individual’s unauthorised trading activity and associated money laundering. In matters relating to fraud, Martin Evans KC was instructed for confiscation proceedings following the conviction in R v Asplin, Kearns & Jones, a private prosecution by an insurance company against former directors who had conducted fraud for over a decade, while Kennedy Talbot KC acted for the trustees of a pension fund in the liquidation to pay an £8m confiscation order in the same matter. Mark Rainsford KC managed to restrain £48m of personal assets held by the defendants for the Crown Prosecution Service in the scope of Operation Salmon, an HMRC investigation into a fraud involving myriads of mini-umbrella companies.
Proceeds of crime (POCA) and asset forfeiture in
London Bar
33 Chancery Lane
Testimonials
‘Martin Adams is a very knowledgeable clerk who knows the capabilities of his excellent team of barristers inside out.’
‘Martin Adams is a very personable person and always there to help.’
‘The go to set for POCA and asset recovery work.’
’33 Chancery Lane has a great pool of talent in this area. No other set can provide the breadth and depth of Counsel that have such expertise in POCA and asset forfeiture.’
‘The leading set for POCA related litigation work.’
’33 Chancery Lane will always be the best POCA set in the country. they are now expanding their branches into complex fraud work.’
‘Leading set in the area and involved in most of the big cases.’
‘I have always found the clerks room to be very efficient, professional and courteous.’
Work highlights
6KBW College Hill
Criminal set 6KBW College Hill is considered ‘one of the top white collar and corporate crime sets in the country‘ with ‘universally excellent counsel‘ in the field of proceeds of crime. The set is particularly experienced in overseas applications and has acted in multi-million pound restraint and forfeiture applications from, among others, Egypt, Denmark, Finland and Kuwait. In this vein, David Perry KC is acting for the CPS in the case of Sarah Panitzke, described in the press as "the UK's most wanted woman", who is serving an eight-year sentence for money laundering offences and has an outstanding confiscation order of £2.5m. Jonathan Hall KC represented the National Crime Agency in R (Gater) v Westminster Magistrates Court, a judicial review by the former head of Russia's Alfa-Bank concerning an account freezing order - one of the first cases to consider possible breaches of sanctions against Russian individuals after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Testimonials
‘Both Andrew Barnes and Mark Essex are a fantastic clerking team at the set. They are commercially minded, responsive and a pleasure to work with.’
‘Very helpful!’
‘Definitely one of the top white collar and corporate crime sets in the country, with exceptional counsel engaged both by the prosecution and defence.’
‘Strong set with real depth.’
‘Experience of a number of members of Chambers in the field of proceeds of crime has been of universally excellent counsel.’
‘Strong set with depth across range of seniority.’
Work highlights
Three Raymond Buildings
Hailed as a ‘go-to London set for all matters relating to criminal and regulatory law‘ with significant experience in restraint, confiscation and civil recovery proceedings, members of Three Raymond Buildings regularly act in leading cases. In Supreme Court case R v Andrewes, Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC acted for the respondent - both parties sought to amend a confiscation order in a CV fraud case; the person convicted arguing that if the employee performed satisfactory the benefit figure should be set at zero, while the CPS argued that the salary should be confiscated in full. The set continues to show strong activity in the area of account freezing orders and forfeitures; Hugo Keith KC acted for a high-profile Russian oligarch regarding sanctions-related account freezing orders in NCA v Westminster Magistrates Court, and in Fresh View Ltd v Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Nicholas Yeo acted for a company which had been ordered to forfeit its bank balance as it had been paid through an unregistered money service bureau.
Testimonials
‘Dean Brown responds rapidly to all enquiries and is always keen to secure instructions with competitive fee rates.’
‘The clerking at 3 Raymond Buildings is also unrivalled in any other criminal set. Nothing is too much trouble. I have never been let down and instruct the set very frequently indeed.’
‘Dean Brown is knowledgeable, courteous and extremely able. He really is very, very good at what he does.’
‘Premier division service.’
‘This is an excellent set with strength in depth. A go-to London set for all matters relating to criminal and regulatory law.’
‘Three Raymond Buildings possess an unrivalled array of talent from top to bottom.’
‘This set has a good number of highly talented individuals.’
Work highlights
3 Verulam Buildings
Best known as a commercial set with a proud track record in banking-related work among other areas, 3 Verulam Buildings is an ‘an increasing force in POCA work and asset forfeiture‘ with a particular focus on civil recovery work relating to proceeds of crime. Andrew Sutcliffe KC, who regularly acts for government agencies, was instructed by the National Crime Agency in National Crime Agency v Persons Unknown, with Barclays Bank as an interested party: in this unprecedented case, the court passed a summary judgment for £55m believed to be proceeds of crime held at Barclays, and gave permission to issue claim against 30,000 account holders as ‘persons unknown’. In the money laundering case NCA v Nuttall & ors, Anne Jeavons also acted for the National Crime Agency on the question of if proceeds of crime can be used to validly discharge a settlement agreement in lieu of the recovery of other proceeds of crime.
Testimonials
‘3VB is an increasing force in POCA work and asset forfeiture, with a number of its barristers gaining experience in the area.’
‘The clerking team is very responsive and good at dealing with court listing to get preferred hearing dates.’
Work highlights
5 St Andrews Hill
5 St Andrews Hill
acts on all types of POCA matters and has ‘leading expert teams in extradition, financial crime and civil asset forfeiture‘. For example, Andrew Bird KC led Gemma Rose in FCA v Faithfull, where the team acted for the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to a boiler room fraud on account forfeiture applications, restraint orders and cross jurisdictional issues. Gary Pons was instructed by the prosecution in cases concerning forfeiture of cash and account forfeiture orders following a complex and lengthy investigation where the proceeds were believed to stem from evading Landfill Tax and VAT, obtained by falsification of records and off-book tipping and laundering, and Sarah Wood acted for the respondent in NCA v USA D&D International and Others on an application for the detention of £4m worth of gold seized at Heathrow in 2019 while en route from Venezuela to Switzerland, and assumed to be a money laundering attempt by South American drug cartels.
Testimonials
‘Great clerks: Dave Scothern is the senior clerk and is very professional and not pushy. Dean Cook is also excellent – very responsive.’
‘Gary Norton is my favourite clerk.’
‘We have always had great experience with their clerks’
‘Excellent – Dean Cook is very approachable.’
‘Dean Cook is an outstanding team member who works incredibly hard.’
‘5 St Andrew’s Hill is a fantastic set for POCA and Financial Crime, from Silk level down to the junior end of the junior Bar. ‘
‘They are great, from the clerks upwards.’
‘The chambers are excellent; they are available to provide counsel also at very short notice.’
Work highlights
33 Chancery Lane
Testimonials
‘Martin Adams is a very knowledgeable clerk who knows the capabilities of his excellent team of barristers inside out.’
‘Martin Adams is a very personable person and always there to help.’
‘The go to set for POCA and asset recovery work.’
’33 Chancery Lane has a great pool of talent in this area. No other set can provide the breadth and depth of Counsel that have such expertise in POCA and asset forfeiture.’
‘The leading set for POCA related litigation work.’
’33 Chancery Lane will always be the best POCA set in the country. they are now expanding their branches into complex fraud work.’
‘Leading set in the area and involved in most of the big cases.’
‘I have always found the clerks room to be very efficient, professional and courteous.’
Work highlights
6KBW College Hill
Criminal set 6KBW College Hill is considered ‘one of the top white collar and corporate crime sets in the country‘ with ‘universally excellent counsel‘ in the field of proceeds of crime. The set is particularly experienced in overseas applications and has acted in multi-million pound restraint and forfeiture applications from, among others, Egypt, Denmark, Finland and Kuwait. In this vein, David Perry KC is acting for the CPS in the case of Sarah Panitzke, described in the press as "the UK's most wanted woman", who is serving an eight-year sentence for money laundering offences and has an outstanding confiscation order of £2.5m. Jonathan Hall KC represented the National Crime Agency in R (Gater) v Westminster Magistrates Court, a judicial review by the former head of Russia's Alfa-Bank concerning an account freezing order - one of the first cases to consider possible breaches of sanctions against Russian individuals after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Testimonials
‘Both Andrew Barnes and Mark Essex are a fantastic clerking team at the set. They are commercially minded, responsive and a pleasure to work with.’
‘Very helpful!’
‘Definitely one of the top white collar and corporate crime sets in the country, with exceptional counsel engaged both by the prosecution and defence.’
‘Strong set with real depth.’
‘Experience of a number of members of Chambers in the field of proceeds of crime has been of universally excellent counsel.’
‘Strong set with depth across range of seniority.’
Work highlights
Three Raymond Buildings
Hailed as a ‘go-to London set for all matters relating to criminal and regulatory law‘ with significant experience in restraint, confiscation and civil recovery proceedings, members of Three Raymond Buildings regularly act in leading cases. In Supreme Court case R v Andrewes, Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC acted for the respondent - both parties sought to amend a confiscation order in a CV fraud case; the person convicted arguing that if the employee performed satisfactory the benefit figure should be set at zero, while the CPS argued that the salary should be confiscated in full. The set continues to show strong activity in the area of account freezing orders and forfeitures; Hugo Keith KC acted for a high-profile Russian oligarch regarding sanctions-related account freezing orders in NCA v Westminster Magistrates Court, and in Fresh View Ltd v Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Nicholas Yeo acted for a company which had been ordered to forfeit its bank balance as it had been paid through an unregistered money service bureau.
Testimonials
‘Dean Brown responds rapidly to all enquiries and is always keen to secure instructions with competitive fee rates.’
‘The clerking at 3 Raymond Buildings is also unrivalled in any other criminal set. Nothing is too much trouble. I have never been let down and instruct the set very frequently indeed.’
‘Dean Brown is knowledgeable, courteous and extremely able. He really is very, very good at what he does.’
‘Premier division service.’
‘This is an excellent set with strength in depth. A go-to London set for all matters relating to criminal and regulatory law.’
‘Three Raymond Buildings possess an unrivalled array of talent from top to bottom.’
‘This set has a good number of highly talented individuals.’
Work highlights
3 Verulam Buildings
Best known as a commercial set with a proud track record in banking-related work among other areas, 3 Verulam Buildings is an ‘an increasing force in POCA work and asset forfeiture‘ with a particular focus on civil recovery work relating to proceeds of crime. Andrew Sutcliffe KC, who regularly acts for government agencies, was instructed by the National Crime Agency in National Crime Agency v Persons Unknown, with Barclays Bank as an interested party: in this unprecedented case, the court passed a summary judgment for £55m believed to be proceeds of crime held at Barclays, and gave permission to issue claim against 30,000 account holders as ‘persons unknown’. In the money laundering case NCA v Nuttall & ors, Anne Jeavons also acted for the National Crime Agency on the question of if proceeds of crime can be used to validly discharge a settlement agreement in lieu of the recovery of other proceeds of crime.
Testimonials
‘3VB is an increasing force in POCA work and asset forfeiture, with a number of its barristers gaining experience in the area.’
‘The clerking team is very responsive and good at dealing with court listing to get preferred hearing dates.’
Work highlights
5 St Andrews Hill
5 St Andrews Hill
acts on all types of POCA matters and has ‘leading expert teams in extradition, financial crime and civil asset forfeiture‘. For example, Andrew Bird KC led Gemma Rose in FCA v Faithfull, where the team acted for the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to a boiler room fraud on account forfeiture applications, restraint orders and cross jurisdictional issues. Gary Pons was instructed by the prosecution in cases concerning forfeiture of cash and account forfeiture orders following a complex and lengthy investigation where the proceeds were believed to stem from evading Landfill Tax and VAT, obtained by falsification of records and off-book tipping and laundering, and Sarah Wood acted for the respondent in NCA v USA D&D International and Others on an application for the detention of £4m worth of gold seized at Heathrow in 2019 while en route from Venezuela to Switzerland, and assumed to be a money laundering attempt by South American drug cartels.
Testimonials
‘Great clerks: Dave Scothern is the senior clerk and is very professional and not pushy. Dean Cook is also excellent – very responsive.’
‘Gary Norton is my favourite clerk.’
‘We have always had great experience with their clerks’
‘Excellent – Dean Cook is very approachable.’
‘Dean Cook is an outstanding team member who works incredibly hard.’
‘5 St Andrew’s Hill is a fantastic set for POCA and Financial Crime, from Silk level down to the junior end of the junior Bar. ‘
‘They are great, from the clerks upwards.’
‘The chambers are excellent; they are available to provide counsel also at very short notice.’