The Problems of Asset Recovery Within the Jurisdiction of England and Wales: An Overview
| Pages | 297-305 |
| Published date | 01 January 1994 |
| Date | 01 January 1994 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025628 |
| Author | Belinda Paisley |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
The Problems of Asset Recovery Within the
Jurisdiction of England and Wales: An
Overview
Belinda Paisley
Belinda Paisley
is a litigation solicitor at international law
firm Richards Butler specialising in civil
commercial litigation.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to examine the
many problems that can be encountered in
seeking to recover assets in civil proceed-
ings1 within the jurisdiction of England and
Wales and, where possible, to suggest ways
of overcoming them. The paper concen-
trates on national recovery problems, as
opposed to recovery problems in the inter-
national forum. The paper does not address
asset recovery in the context of insolvency.2
The problems of asset recovery addressed
below are practical problems experienced
both by the author and other solicitors seek-
ing to recover assets pursuant to a
judg-
ment. The paper is based on a case study.
Although names and certain details have
been changed, the basic facts of the case
study are true.
CASE STUDY
Ms Deceptive has a criminal record for
obtaining money by deception. On
release from prison, she drafts a very
impressive, but entirely false, curriculum
vitae on the strength of which she
obtains an accountancy position with
Company A. She steals £250,000 from
Company A without being detected
then takes up the post of financial con-
troller with Company B. Made more
confident and daring by the relative ease
with which she fleeced Company A, she
proceeds to defraud Company B,
through various devices, of £1m.
During this rime, Ms Deceptive and her
friend, Ms Gullible (who is apparently
unaware that Ms Deceptive has been
misappropriating funds from her
employers) have great fun spending the
money. They go on a number of expen-
sive holidays, have minor cosmetic
surgery, bestow gifts of money and cars
on friends and family and purchase a
property in joint names. Shortly after Ms
Deceptive leaves the employ of Com-
pany B, Company B becomes aware of
the missing £1m. You arc advising
Company B.
INTRODUCTION
The problems of asset recovery are plen-
tiful. The greatest problems lie in:
(i) locating the assets that have been
wrongfully appropriated or the
wrongdoer's own assets
297
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