POCA Success: £110k unfrozen from two Barclays accounts

In March 2024, we were instructed by a Ghanian national and successful businessman with immediate family living in the UK.

Our client had been notified by Greater Manchester Police of an application to freeze for six months the credit balance held in his Barclays current and savings accounts under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

As is unfortunately only too common in cases of this nature, the police’s information in support of their application was only provided the day before the hearing at Stockport Magistrates’ Court.

The police “strongly” suspected our client to be involved in money laundering due to the “quick success of deposits and outward payments” to and from his accounts in 2023/24 and his lack of taxable UK income.

Prior to this first hearing, we worked intensively to prepare and file our client’s 8-page witness statement and 157 pages of supporting material that explained the lawful provenance of these funds and the transactions.

Our client is a board member of an international holding company that has extensive commercial interests in the UK and Africa. In addition, he is a shareholder of a highly profitable restaurant. Funds were expended in the UK for documented medical treatments.

A three-month order was agreed, and the police followed up within weeks with specific queries. We comprehensively addressed these in a further 6-page statement and 112 pages of additional evidence.

On receipt of this further material, the police promptly applied to have the account freezing orders set aside, much to our client’s relief . David Bloom of Sonn Macmillan Walker instructed Gary Pons of 5 St Andew’s Hill Chambers to attend the first hearing.