National Crime Agency & Anor v Odewale & Anor

National Crime Agency & Anor v Odewale & Anor

The court found that all Disputed Assets were derived from unlawful conduct, specifically identity theft frauds and money laundering by Mr Odewale and/or Ms Yadav, and are therefore recoverable property under Part 5 of POCA. The court rejected the Defendants' explanations as not credible and found no valid defence under s.308 POCA. NatWest, as victim of the Fitzpatrick and Davies Frauds, established proprietary claims to Patek 1 and the traceable proceeds of the Patek 5004P, and is entitled to relief under s.281 POCA.

Parties
First Claimant: National Crime Agency; Second Claimant: National Westminster Bank Plc; First Defendant: Mr Ayodele Odewale; Second Defendant: Ms Sara Yadav
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
22 June 2020
Procedural Posture
Civil Recovery Order / Judgment After Trial
Outcome
Claim allowed in part; recovery order granted; proprietary relief to NatWest.
Legal Topics
Tracing of Recoverable Property, Third Party Defences, Victims of Theft, Constructive Trusts, Equitable Proprietary Claims
Proceeds of Crime Civil Recovery Fraud Money Laundering Tracing of Recoverable Property Third Party Defences Victims of Theft Constructive Trusts +1 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 5 Authorities cited 22 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 8
Sign in to unlock

Parties

National Crime Agency

First Claimant

National Westminster Bank Plc

Second Claimant

Mr Ayodele Odewale

First Defendant

Ms Sara Yadav

Second Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil Recovery Order / Judgment After Trial

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Disputed Assets are recoverable property under Part 5 of POCA
  2. 2 Whether the property held by Ms Yadav ceased to be recoverable under s.308 POCA
  3. 3 Whether NatWest has proprietary claims over certain assets and is entitled to relief under s.281 POCA

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that all Disputed Assets were derived from unlawful conduct, specifically identity theft frauds and money laundering by Mr Odewale and/or Ms Yadav, and are therefore recoverable property under Part 5 of POCA. The court rejected the Defendants' explanations as not credible and found no valid defence under s.308 POCA. NatWest, as victim of the Fitzpatrick and Davies Frauds, established proprietary claims to Patek 1 and the traceable proceeds of the Patek 5004P, and is entitled to relief under s.281 POCA.

Court Disposition

Claim allowed in part; recovery order granted; proprietary relief to NatWest.

Orders

  • Civil recovery order granted vesting all Disputed Assets in the Civil Recovery Trustee, except for assets subject to NatWest's proprietary claims.
  • Declaration under s.281 POCA that Patek 1 and the traceable proceeds of the Patek 5004P (as elected by NatWest) are not recoverable property and must be delivered up to NatWest.