Practitioners will be aware that, particularly with investigations involving the FCA, Economic Crime and Money Laundering Units, Restraint Orders are often being served on suspects during the early part of an investigation.
The benefit to the Police in obtaining these Orders is that it ties up the suspect's assets and prevents the disposal them during the investigation and, if charges thereafter follow, during the case until its conclusion.
In some cases, those who receive Restraint Orders whilst at the police station do not seek legal advice, and that often results in no statement being filed in response, which results in no negotiations taking place with the prosecution authorities and the suspect/defendant as to the scope and ambit of the Restraint Order that has been granted.
In many cases suspects appear to accept that all of their assets can and always will be restrained until the end of proceedings. Of course this is not the case. In many instances where this firm has represented a client, applications have been made to either vary or discharge a Restraint Order and in many circumstances, through the process of negotiating with the prosecution, we have been able to successfully ring-fence the terms of the Order to cover the amount of the alleged criminality, thereby allowing the suspects a certain amount of his or her assets to be used whilst the criminal investigation and/or proceedings are ongoing.
By releasing such assets they can be used towards daily living expenses, the provision of legal services and allowing the suspect to continue to be financially solvent. Often variations of Restraint Orders allow an increase in the weekly allowance originally ordered by the Court in terms of living expenses for the suspects during the life of the case.
If you are served with a Restraint Order or know someone that is, then it is necessary and desirable to seek expert legal advice as soon as the Order is served in order that you can explore all options as to the variation, discharge or ring-fencing.
We at Lewis Nedas have a team of expert fraud lawyers, well-versed in the management of cases involving Restraint Orders. We all also pride ourselves on successfully representing suspects in seeking the discharge of those Orders where such an approach is warranted.
Furthermore, we look to see if the Orders that have been granted are proportionate to the allegations of criminality relating to the suspect.
On a final point concerning the practicalities of approaching Restraint Orders, if an application is discharged it will be necessary for the practitioner to prepare a Draft Order as a formal Court Order will be required for the banks and other institutions that are in possession of restrained funds.
We at Lewis Nedas have considerable experience in this area.
If you require advice on this area please do not hesitate to contact Miles Herman of Lewis Nedas Law by calling 020 7387 2032 or by completing our online enquiry form here.
