James Fletcher acted for HMRC in the first successful application for an Account Forfeiture Order, where the matter had been contested by the respondent.
Account Forfeiture Orders were introduced by the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and permit the Court to forfeit the balance of a bank account where the balance has been obtained by or in return for unlawful conduct or is intended for use in unlawful conduct.
The Court agreed with HMRC’s case that the balance of the respondent’s bank account was property obtained by money laundering and rejected the respondent’s case that the balance was the proceeds of lawful trade in the selling of alcoholic beverages.
James practises in both civil and criminal law. He is a specialist in Asset Recovery and Proceeds of Crime work. He is instructed on behalf of businesses, by individual members of the public and by Government departments. He has been featured in Chambers and Partners in the field of Proceeds of Crime and Asset Forfeiture work (all circuits) since 2014 and has been “Top Ranked” since 2016. James is ranked as a tier 2 leading individual in the Legal 500 for POCA and asset forfeiture (London Bar). He is also ranked in Who's Who at the UK Bar (2017 & 2018 Edition) in the field of criminal fraud work.
