James Fletcher was instructed by KTS Legal in a case involving £100,000 cash hidden in the dashboard of a lorry owned by a Turkish Haulage company, found by Customs at the border.
James successfully persuaded the court not to order forfeiture pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 on the basis that the evidence was insufficient to meet the test. The court also accepted that even if the money was the proceeds of crime, it had been obtained by the company for value, in good faith, and without notice it was proceeds of crime, meaning it could not be followed into their hands.
James Fletcher practises in both civil and criminal law. He is a specialist in Asset Recovery money laundering and Proceeds of Crime work. He has significant expertise in dealing with Account Freezing, Listed Assets and Forfeiture applications in the Magistrates Court and Civil Recovery in the High Court. He is instructed on behalf of businesses and individual members of the public.
Recent cases on behalf of respondents and defendants have included:
- Persuading the NCA to drop AFO proceedings affecting over £1 million.
- Successfully defending AFO proceedings against a Turkish haulage company whose money had been seized by HMRC.
- Obtaining the return of an Iranian family’s money which had been transferred to the United Kingdom through informal value transfer systems.
- Reducing a Defendant’s benefit in confiscation proceedings from £285,000 to £125,000
James also has extensive expertise in applications and judicial reviews relating to law enforcement investigations such as search warrants, restraint, disclosure orders, receiverships and moratorium extensions.
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 1 leading individual in The Legal 500 for POCA and Asset Forfeiture (London Bar) and was nominated as Financial Crime junior of the year (2022), at the Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2022.
To make an enquiry, please contact Dean Cook on 020 7332 5400
