UK: NCA confiscates £780,000 from Russian oligarch in landmark forfeiture
In the first action of its kind in the United Kingdom, the National Crime Agency (‘NCA’) has secured the forfeiture of sanctioned funds in the UK held for the benefit of Russian oligarch Petr Aven.
The £780,000, which had been frozen since 2022, was recovered in connection with sanctions imposed on Aven, the former head of Russia’s largest commercial bank, the NCA said in a statement, 29 July.
The funds, argued by the NCA to be held for the benefit of Aven despite not being in his name, were initially frozen following his sanction by the UK government for supporting Russia.
The NCA’s investigation revealed that attempts to relocate these funds, as well as transactions made by Aven’s estate manager, Stephen Gater, after 15 March 2022, were in breach of sanctions. Notable violations included salary payments to over 20 members of Aven’s household staff and the sale of a Bentley Bentayga car worth £160,000.
In 2022, the NCA obtained nine Freezing Orders related to accounts linked to Aven, alongside two sets of detained cash. An agreement for the forfeiture of £783,827.34 was reached between the NCA and Gater and was ratified at Westminster Magistrates Court on 20 July 2024.
‘The result announced today is significant and marks the end of a complex and long-running investigation by the NCA’s Combatting Kleptocracy Cell,’ a spokesperson from the NCA’s Combatting Kleptocracy Cell said. ‘It demonstrates the NCA’s commitment to enforcing the UK’s sanctions regime, and to recovering money held unlawfully for the benefit of the public purse.’
