NCA defeated in POCA declaration claim

In NCA v Robb & Clarke and ors [2014] EWHC 4384 a number of claimants were seeking declarations that they had a proprietary interest in part of a fund deemed to be recoverable property in earlier proceedings brought by the NCA against the Defendant Robb. In brief, the National Crime Agency (NCA) had been successful in its claim for civil recovery against Robb on the basis that he had been engaged in fraudulent conduct relating to a property scheme in Northern Cyprus. The additional claimants were investors in that scheme and sought to recover their investment from the fund that was subject of the civil recovery proceedings under section 281 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Sir Terence Etherton sitting in the Chancery Division of the High Court having considered their ability to trace their investment through equitable principles ruled that they were so entitled to such declaration to the extent such proprietary interest derived directly or indirectly from their contribution rather than in the form of compensation.