You suddenly find that your bank account has been frozen. When you last tried to make a payment or withdraw funds for some reason the bank will not process the payments even though there are sufficient funds in the account. You may have contacted the bank and found that the bank is unwilling to give you any information other than to say that they are following a statutory process. In frustration you may have lodged a formal complaint with the bank or even with the Financial Ombudsman and meet a wall of silence. What is happening and what can you do about it?

In such situations it is no doubt the case that your bank account has been frozen under the Proceed of Crime Act (POCA) 2002. Under POCA a bank has a legal duty to freeze your bank account if they suspect that the money in your account has been used or may be used for criminal purposes. The bank has a duty to then report you to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the form of a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR).

The reason why the bank is "silent" during this period is because they are they are wary of committing the offence of "tipping off" under POCA. Under POCA, it is a criminal offence for an individual or organisation to warn or "tip off" an individual that they are under investigation for a POCA offence. This is why you have met the wall of silence. And so, what can I do?

As there is no doubt an investigation under way we will work with you to provide a full explanation with supporting evidence of all funds in your account. We will seek to open a dialogue with the investigating officer and address any concerns they may have. Once the questions are answered satisfactorily, we have seen accounts unfrozen. The best approach is to be transparent. Bear in mind that the enforcement officers can take more draconian measures at any time such as applying for an Account Freezing Order (AFO) so the sooner we engage with the enforcement officers the better before the matter is escalated. If of course an Account Freezing Order has already been issued we can assist with that also. 



If you are the subject of an AFO please call us in confidence on 0208858 5996 or Winston.brown@brownandcosolicitors.co.uk