Category: Proceeds of Crime

Criminals stripped of money in record year for compensation

Proceeds of Crime, Prosecutions
Victims of crime have received record compensation from criminal funds as new figures show results of a yearlong crackdown on dirty money.   Asset recovery gives law enforcement the tools to track down and take back assets gained through criminal activity, ensuring offenders cannot benefit from the proceeds of their crimes.  New figures released today (Thursday 11 September) show that almost £50 million taken from criminals was returned to victims, an 165% increase on the previous year and the highest amount in over half a decade.   This comes as law enforcement recovered almost £300 million in criminal assets. It highlights…

SFO recovers further £295,000 from convicted fraudster’s hidden pensions

Confiscation, Proceeds of Crime
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has recovered a further £295,000 from Virendra Rastogi, now known as Vareen Kumar or Veerain Kumarr, who was convicted for an international metal trading scam. The money was recovered from two pension funds as part of an ongoing proceeds of crime investigation into Rastogi’s assets, which has recovered nearly £6 million to date including from the sale of his Marylebone home and via the seizure of money and assets including valuable watches. Rastogi was one of three former directors of RBG Resources plc who was prosecuted by the SFO in 2008 for operating an international…

U.K. Crime Agency Asks Court to Permanently Seize Russian Oligarch’s Money

Proceeds of Crime
Britain’s National Crime Agency has for the first time asked a court to permanently seize funds held by a Russian oligarch, arguing that they are “proceeds of crime,” because he allegedly moved the money in violation of sanctions regulations.The agency, known as the NCA, applied on May 1 for a forfeiture order for 1.1 million British pounds (US$1.4 million) from Petr Aven, a billionaire who the U.K. says has “been involved in supporting the Government of Russia” during its war in Ukraine.The money has been frozen since the U.K. sanctioned Aven in 2022. The NCA believes it has now gathered…

Angolan Court orders Seizure of Dos Santos Assets

Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime
Angola’s Supreme Court has ordered the “preventive” seizure of assets worth around $1 billion held by Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the southern African country’s former president, Portugal’s Lusa news agency said on Tuesday. The court document cited by Lusa, dated Dec. 19, said authorities had evidence of alleged embezzlement and money laundering and ordered the seizure of the money dos Santos holds in “all banking institutions”. The seizure also includes all of dos Santos’s shares in Angolan company Embalvidro, as well as 100% of shares in Cape Verde’s telecom company Unitel T+ and Unitel STP in Sao Tome…

NCA secures £50m identified by Barclays as the Proceeds of Crime

Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has obtained a ruling from the High Court that allows Barclays to hand over criminal funds to the NCA in a first-of-its-kind civil recovery case. The money – amounting to over £50m – was identified by the bank in a number of accounts and transferred to secure holding accounts. The civil recovery order means that for the first time, legal powers were used to recover the proceeds of crime where the account holders were not named in the court action. Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) in the NCA said: “Identifying…