Two British nationals have had £50 million worth of assets, including a yacht, frozen after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) secured an unexplained wealth order against them.
An unnamed man and woman have been made subject to the second such order to be secured since the power was brought into force in January 2018. The assets include a yacht worth around £1.9 million, a bank account worth approximately £2.6 million, eight vehicles worth around £600,000 and several high-value properties in England, France, Spain and Portugal, the CPS said.
Three Months to Prove Legitimate Source
The pair, and the companies associated with them, have three months to prove where the money used to buy the properties came from, and that it was sourced legally. If they cannot - or refuse to - explain where the cash came from, the CPS can apply to seize the assets permanently, without a criminal conviction.
An interim property freezing order has been issued to investigate the laundering of international illicit funds in the UK, the CPS added.
Legal Powers and Context
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Crown Prosecution Service, using the powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is one of a small number of enforcement authorities who can apply to the High Court for an Unexplained Wealth Order.
Adrian Foster, chief crown prosecutor for the CPS's proceeds of crime division, said: "We have successfully obtained an unexplained wealth order and interim property freezing order against two British nationals and their associated companies in the United Kingdom."
"They are now legally required to prove how they obtained their wealth, or risk having their assets seized following an application by the CPS's Civil Recovery Team," he added.
Next Steps and Precedent
The wealth order against the two British nationals was granted by the High Court today, with the next hearing to be held at the same court on a later date.
The power, which allows authorities to take back money suspected to have been made through crime, was brought in under so-called McMafia laws - named after the BBC organised crime drama and the book which inspired it.
In 2024, Zamira Hajiyeva forfeited a house worth more than £14 million and a golf club in Ascot after she was made subject to the UK's first wealth order. The National Crime Agency said it believed the assets were obtained as a "direct result of large-scale fraud and embezzlement, false accounting and money laundering".
It added that "no reasonable explanation" was provided for the source of funds used to purchase either property.
