Akhtar had arranged with a mortgage broker to obtain money from lenders by submitting false mortgage applications on behalf of third parties. He was prosecuted under section 328. The prosecution argued that Akhtar was guilty because he entered into an arrangement which he knew would facilitate the acquisition of property for third parties by deception, and, as an alternative submission, that the funds had the character of criminal property at the time when the arrangement began to operate on them.
Held: The appeal succeeded. As to the first part of the argument advanced by counsel for the prosecution, Elias LJ said: ‘On his analysis an offence is committed where a defendant becomes concerned in an arrangement which facilitates the criminal acquisition of property. The statute requires an arrangement facilitating the acquisition of criminal property. There is a material distinction.’
He also rejected the argument that the funds had the character of being criminal property at the time when the arrangement began to operate.
Citations:
[2011] EWCA Crim 2914, [2011] 1 Cr App R 37
Links:
Statutes:
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 328(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – GH, Regina v SC 22-Apr-2015
Appeal against conviction for entering into an arrangement for the retention of criminal funds. The defendant said that at the time of the arrangement there were not yet any criminal funds in existence. A had set up websites intending to con . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.450059