AC-2025-LON-002199 - [2025] EWHC 2057 (Admin)

This an application by Barry Roger Woollard (“Mr Woollard” or “the Applicant”), an Officer of the Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”), in relation to Cheng Xing and Yan Zhang (“the Respondents”). The Applicant seeks a Property Freezing Order (“PFO”) under section 245A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA 2002”). The order is sought in respect of three properties and the balance of a savings bank account owned by the Respondents, with an approximate combined value of £1,425,890.00.

The application is supported by Mr Woollard’s detailed second witness statement of some 80 pages, with an exhibit bundle comprising 3084 pages. The investigation into the four assets is currently in a covert phase, and the application is made without notice due, it is argued, to the risk of dissipation if the Respondents were to be given notice. It is anticipated that the fact of the investigation might, absent an order, be discovered by the Respondents by 26 August 2025, as HMRC is required to issue a VAT assessment by that date, which will rely on banking information obtained during the investigation.