Confiscation Investigations in UK. Understandably, the victims of fraud and other types of acquisitive crime seek to recover what they have lost via a confiscation order.
At Edmonds Marshall McMahon, we provide comprehensive advice on restraint, confiscation, compensation and enforcement to the victims of crime who have suffered loss. We guide and conduct robust financial investigations, inhouse and alongside accredited financial investigators of Regional Asset Recovery Teams, to locate a defendant’s assets, here and abroad, for the purpose of confiscation proceedings. Our ability to work with Regional Asset Recovery Teams maximises the chances of recovery for victims who have been failed by the absence of an effective confiscation investigation subsequent to a state prosecution.
A private prosecutor is entitled to initiate confiscation proceedings independently, and further to a successful private prosecution. Section 6 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 permits the bringing of “criminal proceedings” by a private prosecutor. Sentencing, of which confiscation proceedings are part, is part of the criminal proceedings instituted against a defendant. Section 6 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provides that after conviction, the court must proceed to consider the making of a confiscation order if “the prosecutor… asks the court to proceed”. Under this legislative framework, we conduct robust confiscation investigations on behalf of our clients and effectively enforce confiscation orders and compensation orders awarded in their favour.
The confiscation regime can ensure through compensation that a victim is compensated for their financial loss and the defendant denied the proceeds of their criminal conduct. Our clients’ right to access justice is preserved through this important private mechanism.
