The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has been ordered to pay a Brazilian businessman US$64,000 following a failed attempt to freeze and confiscate hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The matter first arose in November 2019 when the prosecutions office applied to the Grand Court for a restraint order to Massimo Andrea Giavina Bianchi in relation to accessing an investment fund in his name which was valued at just over US$1.3 million.
According to a statement from Bianchi’s legal team, the DPP suspected the funds to have been the proceeds of money laundering, corruption, tax evasion and bribery; and was amassed by the ‘subway-railroad cartel’ that manipulated Brazil’s tendering process to secure lucrative government contracts to build subway lines.
Then, in 2020, the DPP followed up with an application for a property-freezing order on all the funds held by Bianchi in his Cayman Islands bank accounts – which was thrown out by the Grand Court.
When dismissing the matter, then Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale, now chief justice, said the Crown “failed to establish a case which is even barely more than capable of serious argument”, adding that matter was “frivolous”.
Following the dismissal of the DPP’s case, Jonathon Hughes of Samson Law, who represented Bianchi, applied for compensation from the Crown, by invoking Section 65 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, in what is said to be a first-of-its-kind application, according to a statement to the Compass by the law firm.
That section states in part, “Where proceedings for an offence are started against a person and they do not result in that person’s conviction for the offence, the court may order the party of such compensation as it believe is just.”
In its statement, Samson Law said, “On behalf of the businessman [we] sought to recoup not just legal fees but also compensation to reflect the loss of opportunity to invest and profit from the funds which had been frozen by the court on an interim basis pending the final outcome of his case.”
The compensation hearing, which was heard by Justice Cheryll Richards, resulted in the courts ordering the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to pay Bianchi US$63,886.51.
“All too often, we see the Crown overreaching when it comes to the significant powers given to it under the Proceeds of Crime Act,” said Hughes in the statement. “Whilst we understand the eagerness of the Crown to prosecute suspected money laundering, it is equally important that cases are investigated and prepared thoroughly so that innocent individuals and companies do not erroneously fall under suspicion.”
He added, “We are pleased that our client has been entirely vindicated, with the case against him described as ‘vexatious’ and ‘barely capable of serious argument’, and that the Grand Court has ensured that justice is done by properly compensating him for the significant disruption this three-year ordeal has caused. Hopefully, the authorities will think twice before reacting in a knee-jerk fashion by seeking unwarranted court orders.”
Related Videos
