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

A PFO is an interim remedy available under section 245A of POCA 2002, serving as the statutory equivalent of a freezing injunction in private law civil proceedings. Its purpose is to preserve property for civil recovery proceedings. Section 245A(2) states that a PFO specifies the property to which it applies and prohibits any person to whose property the order applies from dealing with it.

An application for a PFO may be made without notice if giving notice would prejudice the enforcement authority’s right to obtain a recovery order. The court may make a PFO if it is satisfied that two conditions are met. The first condition is that there is “a good arguable case” that the property is or includes recoverable property. The second condition, if applicable, in relation to associated property, is that the enforcement authority has taken all reasonable steps to establish the identity of the holder if not already identified. HMRC is an “enforcement authority” for these purposes.