Cash Seizure & Forfeiture

The Proceeds of Crime Act has made it more and more common in the UK for asset recovery orders to be made. Perhaps the most dramatic examples of this type of order are cash seizures or cash forfeitures.

The aim of seizing cash or demanding that it be forfeited is to stop a person from benefitting from their crimes, or to stop money being used illegally. But if you are faced with cash seizure or forfeiture, it can be very distressing and upsetting for you and your family or business colleagues and it is vital that you have proper legal advice and representation.

Reasons For Cash Seizure & Forfeiture

Since late 2002, a customs officer or a police officer is allowed to seize cash of more than £1,000 from someone entering the country, or who is already in the country if it seems that:
– The cash has come from a criminal act
– The cash is going to be used illegally

That cash can normally only be held for up to 48 hours unless a court order says that it can be kept for longer. The cash will normally be held in an account that carries interest until the court proceedings have finished.

Cash seizure involves criminal law and so the prosecution has to prove that the cash was illegal or going to be used illegally ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.

An alternative to cash seizure is cash forfeiture. Forfeiture is a civil matter, which means that the court can only order the cash to be forfeited (handed over to the court) if it is proved that it was ‘more likely than not’ that the cash was illegal or going to be used illegally.

If you are investigated and a decision is made to seize your cash, the first you might know about it is when you enter the UK at an airport or port and you will probably be unsure of what you should do or what the prosecutors have the power to do.

That is where good-quality legal advice becomes important, because you will need to know very quickly whether the seizure or forfeiture was legal and whether it can be challenged. You will also need to know what your chances are of successfully getting your property returned.