Part 5Civil recovery of the proceeds etc. of unlawful conduct
F1CHAPTER 3BForfeiture of money held in certain accounts
Freezing of certain accounts
303Z1Application for account freezing order
(1)
This section applies if an enforcement officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that money held in an account maintained with a F2relevant financial institution—
(a)
is recoverable property, or
(b)
is intended by any person for use in unlawful conduct.
(2)
Where this section applies (but subject to section 303Z2) the enforcement officer may apply to the relevant court for an account freezing order in relation to the account in which the money is held.
(3)
For the purposes of this Chapter—
(a)
an account freezing order is an order that, subject to any exclusions (see section 303Z5), prohibits each person by or for whom the account to which the order applies is operated from making withdrawals or payments from the account;
(b)
an account is operated by or for a person if the person is an account holder or a signatory or identified as a beneficiary in relation to the account.
(4)
An application for an account freezing order may be made without notice if the circumstances of the case are such that notice of the application would prejudice the taking of any steps under this Chapter to forfeit money that is recoverable property or intended by any person for use in unlawful conduct.
(5)
The money referred to in subsection (1) may be all or part of the credit balance of the account.
F3(5A)
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F4(5B)
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(6)
In this Chapter—
“bank” has the meaning given by section 303Z7;
“building society” has the same meaning as in the Building Societies Act 1986;
F5“electronic money institution” has the same meaning as in the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/99) (see regulation 2 of those Regulations);
“enforcement officer” means—
(a)
an officer of Revenue and Customs,
(b)
a constable,
(c)
an SFO officer, or
(d)
an accredited financial investigator who falls within a description specified in an order made for the purposes of this Chapter by the Secretary of State F6or the Welsh Ministers under section 453;
“the minimum amount” has the meaning given by section 303Z8;
F5“payment institution” means an authorised payment institution or a small payment institution (each as defined in regulation 2 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/752));
“relevant court”—
(a)
in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, means a magistrates' court, and
(b)
in Scotland, means the sheriff.
F7“relevant financial institution” means—
(a)
a bank,
(b)
a building society,
(c)
an electronic money institution, or
(d)
a payment institution.