WIREDGOV

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has agreed a £16.7m settlement representing what it suspects to be the proceeds of crime.

In response to separate NCA civil recovery and frozen funds investigations, Mr Shijie Song has agreed to forfeit a luxury residential property in London’s Westminster borough, six apartments in the Hendon area of London and monies held in a UK bank account.

The NCA suspects that these assets were acquired from trading in securities in China without the relevant regulatory permissions, and the laundering of the proceeds of this criminality in the UK.

Mr Song failed to provide the NCA with any reasonable explanation for the source of funds used to purchase the properties or for the substantial sums of money held in his bank accounts.

Mr Song has denied engaging in any criminal activity whatsoever and the High Court has made no finding in that regard. The Civil Recovery Order on Consent does not represent a criminal finding of guilt.

Rob Burgess, Head of Asset Denial at the NCA, said:

“This substantial sum recovered demonstrates the determination of the NCA to pursue assets that we suspect have criminal origins.

“We use both civil and criminal powers to investigate the provenance of assets in the UK, and this includes cases when the suspected criminality was committed overseas.

“This case was conducted with the co-operation of the Ministry of Public Security in China.”