Legal background Unexplained Wealth Orders
In 2002, Parliament enacted the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ("POCA"), which contains provisions to allow the investigation and recovery of any property obtained through unlawful conduct, or which is intended to be used for unlawful conduct. For a recovery order to be obtained under Part 5 of POCA (civil recovery), there must be sufficient evidence to indicate, through a judicial process, that on the balance of probabilities the property is related to unlawful activity.
	Part 8 of POCA (investigation) includes various powers for law enforcement authorities to investigate assets, including production orders; search and seizure warrants; disclosure orders; customer information orders; and account monitoring orders.
	The Criminal Finances Act 2017 inserted sections 362A to 362I into Chapter 2 of Part 8 of POCA which make provision for the High Court to make an Unexplained Wealth Order ("UWO") in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also inserted sections 396A to 396U in Chapter 3 of that Part, providing for the Court of Session to make a UWO in Scotland.