Nicola Sharp of Rahman Ravelli outlines the issues in the National Crime Agency’s civil recovery dispute over a property with links to organised crime
The National Crime Agency’s (NCA’s) recovery of a £1 million-plus property linked to a lengthy money laundering investigation is set to be further challenged by a former lord mayor who was living in it.
A High Court judge has awarded the NCA title to the property as part of a £10 million civil recovery agreement with businessman Mansoor Hussain, who is suspected of money laundering offences.
Former Lord Mayor of Leeds, Abigail Katung, who is a Leeds city councillor, had argued that the NCA had no right to the house. Her lawyers have indicated she will appeal against the High Court ruling.
The NCA had accepted title to the house five years ago as part of a settlement with Hussain, who the agency suspected was a "professional enabler" and money launderer for a number of individuals linked to two organised crime gangs.
An NCA spokesperson said Katung had no knowledge of Hussain's activities and contested the transfer of its ownership because she had paid a £400,000 deposit in 2015 to buy the property after Hussain had agreed to sell it to her for £1 million. While she never eventually paid the balance of the price of the house, she lived in it and paid council tax, insurance and, later on, mortgage payments.
Stipulation
In its ruling, the High Court found that the deposit paid by Katung did not confer a beneficial interest in the property. It merely meant that Katung was “fulfilling a contractual stipulation en route, in due course, to obtaining a full legal interest." The judge held that a deposit is not an equitable interest and, therefore, cannot be regarded as associated property – property that is not itself recoverable but is connected to or linked with recoverable property - under the UK’s Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).
The court also ruled that the NCA is entitled to damages because Katung and her family continued to live at the property mortgage-free between February 2021 and April 2025, during which time the NCA paid £276,081 in mortgage instalments. Katung is married to Sunday Marshall Katung, a Nigerian politician and lawyer.
It is a case that emphasises how civil recovery proceedings under POCA can be highly specialised and require particular legal expertise.
