Abigail Barber’s principal areas of practice are money laundering, civil and criminal fraud, confiscation, receiverships and asset forfeiture and recovery.

Abigail Barber has appeared for individuals, Receivers and for government agencies in a range of courts including the House of Lords, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court and the Magistrates’ Court.

Abigail Barber has particular expertise in relation to restraint and freezing orders and receiverships acting on behalf of Receivers, Defendants, third parties, wives and husbands and government agencies. Her experience includes advising and representing defendants who simultaneously face criminal justice proceedings and insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings and she has extensive experience of the overlap of matrimonial proceedings and criminal justice act receiverships.

Abigail Barber advises solicitors and money transmission bureaux in relation to the money laundering regulations, reporting obligations under the Suspicious Transaction Reporting scheme, and related aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and compliance issues. Abigail Barber represented a key defendant in the prosecution of £127 million hawala banking money laundering prosecution.

Abigail Barber assists with updating the confiscation and receivership chapters of Confiscation and the Proceeds of Crime, Mitchell, Taylor and Talbot, and was part of the team annotating the Current Law Statutes Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Abigail Barber regularly lectures members of the legal profession, accountants, receivers, and police officers about proceeds of crime issues and is prepared to appear in all courts in London and also in the provinces on circuit.

Her background was in common law and civil disputes with experience of property issues and matrimonial finances.

Notable Cases

• SINCLAIR and RCPO V GLATT
  Proceedings in the QBD of the High Court. Representing the Receiver and the Crown in establishing the extent and use of the Receiver’s lien for costs, fees and disbursements.
• CAPEWELL V HMRC [2007] 1 W.L.R. 386, [2007] UKHL 2
  Civil appeal. Represented the defendant in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. Case concerned the payment of Receiver’s costs, fees and disbursements and the interpretation of Part 69 of CPR.The Court of Appeal issued guidelines regarding the appointment of Receivers.
• REGINA V LIAQUAT ALI AND OTHERS (2007)
  Representing the Defendant in a prosecution brought by HMRC in relation to the use of a hawala banking money transmission bureaux for laundering £127 million of the proceeds of crime during a period of just over 3 years.
• ASIF BUTT [2005]
  Insider dealing – representing the defendant in confiscation proceedings.
• GRIMES V CPS [2004] 1 F.L.R. 910
  Civil appeal – costs of government agencies in matrimonial and confiscation proceedings.
• GLATT
  MANNING V GLATT AND OTHERS [2002] EWHC 2495
  MANNING V GLATT AND OTHERS [2003] EWHC 1732
  Civil proceedings representing the Receiver – concerning the appointment of the Receiver in relation to “gifts” under CJA 1988. Followed by a wholesale root and branch attack on the Receivership.