National Crime Agency files claim to recover £54m from two Barclays bank accounts

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is seeking to recover almost £54m from two Barclays accounts over concerns the money was acquired through fraud and money laundering.

The NCA has filed a High Court claim seeking a Recovery Order to obtain £53,984,882 from two unnamed bank accounts, following internal investigations by the bank, a claim form seen by City A.M. shows.  

“The overwhelming inference is that, on the balance of probabilities, the Property constitutes the proceeds of crime,” the claim form says.

The claim is against individuals who cannot be named for legal reasons, with Barclays listed as an interested party only, meaning the bank itself is not being accused of any wrongdoing, City A.M understands.

The High Court claim comes after Barclays launched an investigation into the cash on the back of third-party intelligence and the bank’s own controls.

The money was later ring fenced by Barclays due to the account holder’s “inability or unwillingness to provide information as to the provenance of the suspect funds in their account”.

City A.M. understands these funds are an accumulation of multiple transactions, one such tactic would include unwitting customers’ accounts being used as ‘mule accounts’ to launder the ill-gotten gains.

A hearing to recover the £54m funds from the Barclays bank accounts is now scheduled for November.