Case Law Set to Challenge NCA Unexplained Wealth Orders

The High Court has ruled the National Crime Agency was wrong to claim that three London properties worth £80m owned by the daughter and grandson of Kazakhstan’s former president were purchased with ill-gotten gains. The NCA lost a legal challenge to three unexplained wealth orders (UWO’S) that targeted the homes of relatives of ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev. These tools, which came into force in 2018, are designed to be used in a crackdown on the flow of dirty money into the UK.  The NCA said on Thursday it planned to appeal against the ruling. “The NCA is tenacious. We have been very clear that we will use all the legislation at our disposal to pursue suspected illicit finance and we will continue to do so,” said Graeme Biggar, director-general of the National Economic Crime Centre, which sits within the NCA.