Civil Recovery Orders

Where a prosecution authority has been unable to successfully prosecute or has taken a decision not to prosecute it remains possible to take civil recovery proceedings under POCA where property in excess of £10,000 has been obtained.

Civil recovery proceedings are taken in the High Court and the prosecuting agency need only establish that on the balance of probabilities criminal activity has taken place and the funds which it seeks to recover represent the proceeds of crime.

More recently the Serious Fraud Office has used this power in many high profile cases, particularly where a corporate is involved; recent cases where the SFO has issued civil recovery proceedings have involved Balfour Beatty, Amec plc and Macmillian Publishing, for example. We advised Balfour Beatty in negotiating the first ever Civil Recovery Order with the Serious Fraud Office.

We can assist with:

• Providing advice in civil recovery proceedings
• Providing representation in civil recovery proceedings
• Negotiating with the prosecuting authority to secure an agreed settlement
• Providing advice on reputation management to limit negative publicity