In the wake of the recent settlement by the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) of a series of account freezing orders to a combined value of £190 million. Partner Anna Bradshaw explains to the Global Investigation Review (GIR) that the NCA’s approach is responsive to pressure from Non-Governmental Organisations. “Cleary the NCA is very pleased. NGOs will be very pleased too… they’ve been calling for the NCA to use this new tool against those accused of large-scale wrongdoing overseas and more specifically target those with big London properties. That’s precisely what’s happened here.” She adds that returning the money to Pakistan will likely bolster the public interest justification for resorting to non-conviction based asset recovery measures.
