In 2024, Queensbury was instructed to represent U Ltd, a company that had accumulated £22 million from overseas clients in a short period. Despite the absence of any queries from the company’s bank, its accounts were abruptly frozen. This action was triggered by the bank filing a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR), which was followed by an extension of the statutory ‘moratorium period’ granted to the National Crime Agency (NCA). At the end of this period, the NCA sought on-notice Account Freezing Orders (AFOs) for all three of the company’s accounts, intending to freeze them for one year.

This would have had catastrophic consequences for our client’s business. The frozen accounts meant that salaries, bills, taxes, could not be paid, nor could the company receive funds. With only a few days’ notice of the NCA’s application for a Freezing Order, Queensbury promptly instructed Jonathan Lennon KC of Doughty Street Chambers to challenge the application at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Working under significant time constraints, our legal team prepared a comprehensive bundle of documents, including witness statements from key personnel, purchase orders, bank statements, project trackers, and financial ledgers to demonstrate that our client’s business activities and the funds received were entirely legitimate.

On the day of the hearing, it was argued in court that neither the bank nor the NCA conducted any meaningful investigation during the moratorium period or engaged with our client to understand the nature of its business or the origin of the overseas funds. After extensive negotiations, the immediate release of nearly £10 million was secured by consent, enabling the company to resume operations. The remaining funds were subjected to a reduced three-month freezing order, which ended on 6th January 2025, rather than the initially sought one-year period.

The implication of the NCA’s actions was that they intended to pursue forfeiture of the funds, alleging they were proceeds of illegal activity. During the three-month freezing period, Queensbury worked tirelessly with our client to provide further evidence of the legitimacy of their business dealings. By early December 2024, Queensbury successfully negotiated with the NCA, resulting in the Account Freezing Orders for all three accounts being set aside by consent. The freezing orders were formally lifted just before Christmas 2024, bringing an end to a seven-month ordeal.

Our client is now considering a potential civil claim against the bank for its negligence, which precipitated an entirely avoidable crisis.

A job well done to our legal team for their tireless effort and outstanding work on this case!