A war of attrition - UK assets recovery

Jane Earl, Director of the UK Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), is disappointed at the rattle from the tinbox of realised receipts. The actual sum collected though civil recovery, criminal confiscation and taxation cases in the year to 31 March 2006 totalled £4.1 million, a significant shortfall against the target range of £6-12 million. In the Agency’s annual report, published last month, the director’s diplomatic language does little to disguise her sense of frustration: “We continue to be beset by the time taken to litigate cases through the civil legal system and by the proper desire of respondents to defend their cases to the full.” She notes that cases take approximately three years to complete. (Proceedings brought under the Director’s taxation powers when there are reasonable grounds to believe that income, gain or profit has arisen from criminal conduct, are now expected to last between 18 months and 2 years.)