A District Judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court granted the NCA's application to extend an account freezing order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 by four months, to 15 January 2027, the two-year maximum. The judge held that the test is reasonable grounds to suspect the money is recoverable property, and that there is no separate requirement to show the account should stay frozen while its source is investigated. The order had earlier been reduced by consent from about 16.3 million pounds to about 10.0 million pounds after the NCA accepted the removed funds were not recoverable property.
Read the original: Judiciary of England and Wales (Westminster Magistrates' Court) ↗
The judgment shows how a magistrates’ court applies the suspicion threshold and the two-year limit to account freezing orders. It concerns a company account and turns on its own facts, so it does not predict the outcome for any other account holder.