EWJ August 62 2025 web - Journal - Page 4
SFO V HMRC: Use of Crypto Wallet
Freezing and Forfeiture Orders
Leading law firm Gherson Solicitors LLP (Gherson) has successfully submitted Freedom of
Information Requests (“FOIs”) to the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) and HM Revenue and
Customs (“HMRC”) to establish each’s use of both Crypto Wallet Freezing Orders (“CWFrOs”)
and Crypto Wallet Forfeiture Orders (“CWFOs”) since their introduction in April 2024.
Whilst the SFO has confirmed that the regulator has
neither sought nor obtained any CWFrOs or CWFOs,
HMRC has confirmed the use of both. For the years
2024-2025 and 2025-2026 HMRC said that it had
sought less than five of either order, though exact
numbers could not be provided for risk of identifying
the individuals involved.
In December 2024, Gherson Solicitors submitted an
FOI to the SFO in relation to its use of Account Freezing Orders (“AFrOs”) and Account Freezing Orders
("AFOs”). When comparing both HMRC and the
SFO’s use of these, Thomas Cattee adds: “We had
previously noted that by its nature, the SFO only investigates a few large and complex cases. This could be
one of the reasons that the number of CWFrOs and
CWFOs used by the SFO is currently nil. HMRC, on
the other hand, conducts many more small and domestic investigations which could be the reason for its
slightly increased use of these.”
Thomas Cattee, partner and head of the WhiteCollar Crime department at Gherson Solicitors comments on the disclosures: “Though the numbers are
small, or in the case of the SFO non-existent, they are
striking.
He concluded: “These results could also reflect the
fact that HMRC has been more willing to react to technological changes. It would be interesting to establish
how many of these have been obtained by the National Crime Agency, however not being subject to
FOI laws we must wait for them to publish their
figures.”
Whilst these new powers represent only one small tool
in the UK’s law enforcement agencies’ armoury and
only suit certain investigations, the fact that the SFO
are yet to even seek any of these orders is perplexing
considering the regulator’s Business Plan 2025-26
which specifically references developing expertise in
the fight against cryptoassets. HMRC are clearly more
ready and adept to using these new powers.”
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