Police and Government agency's ability to confiscate property has increased dramatically over the last ten years, giving such authorities draconian powers to freeze and/or confiscate property even before an individual has been charged or convicted.

At Bark & Co, we regularly act for individuals and companies in extinguishing and limiting the scope of freezing injunctions and challenging confiscations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. This Act provides for civil recovery of the proceeds of crime and created the Assets Recovery Agency. It is now easier for the authorities to convict criminal suspects because it removes the need to single out the types of crime from where money was made. We at Bark & Co make aggressive representations on behalf of our clients to ensure that they are able to get on with their everyday lives whilst investigations are on-going.

As a firm dealing regularly with highly complex, large scale fraud , confiscation and forfeiture are recurring aspects of our work. The team at Bark & Co are keenly sensitive to the inconvenience and anxiety that such constraints may place on individuals and their families and, wherever possible, we work tenaciously to avoid such restrictions. Where this is not possible under the law, we will employ the necessary procedures enabling our clients to minimise the potentially serious financial effects associated with lengthy proceedings.

Additionally, where Restraint Orders are in existence we do everything to contest their longevity, proactively seeking alternative solutions. In a recent high profile fraud case we engaged 2 of the most prominent QCs in the UK to assist in challenging the legality of an extant Restraint Order – with successful results.

Bark & Co have developed the expertise and skills associated with the administration of Confiscation and Restraint Orders that seek to achieve swift and pragmatic solutions to this area of legal process.