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Elaahi & Co successfully contest a Home Office application for forfeiture of an asylum seeker’s $6000

Elaahi & Co Solicitors has built a reputation for fighting for the rights of asylum seekers. We recently represented an individual who was picked up in a small boat with 16 other migrants when crossing the English Channel. Our client had fled his home country with a large sum of money ($6000). This was seized by the Home Office under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. We challenged the application for forfeiture of this cash made by the Home Office in Court.

We prepared our client’s evidence and developed a robust defence argument. There were complex legal arguments at play – had our client engaged in unlawful conduct by illegal entry or facilitation of his own illegal entry? Would he have a defence to any such prosecution under the Refugee Convention? Would any such prosecution be an abuse of process? Was the cash recoverable property? 

Ultimately, we won the case for our client. The Court refused the application for forfeiture of the cash. Our client was extremely pleased with this result but we decided to go even further and apply for the Home Office to pay his legal costs in their entirety. We won the case on this point too – the Court ordered the Home Office to return his $6000 to him and to pay his legal fees for contesting the forfeiture application! This is a rare result in these types of matters and ultimately, our client was put back in the position he would have been in had the forfeiture application not been made.

At Elaahi & Co Solicitors, we specialise in understanding complex legal rules and providing you with clear, sound and straightforward advice on how they apply to your case. If you need advice on a cash seizure matter, or if you believe that the Home Office has wrongfully seized your money, contact our expert team of immigration lawyers a call on 020 3930 3831. We are here to help you.

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