Civil recovery order stays in place after UK Privy Council dismisses appeal

The UK Privy Council has dismissed an appeal by Clint Serra, his mother Margot, sister Victoria, and wife Sharon Jones against a civil recovery order.

They had challenged findings by the Chief Justice, later upheld by the Gibraltar Court of Appeal, that the assets were linked to the proceeds of drug trafficking.

The civil recovery order was made by Chief Justice Anthony Dudley in June 2023 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The Chief Justice found, on the balance of probabilities, that the assets had been acquired through unlawful conduct or represented the proceeds of it. He concluded that Clint Serra had been involved in drug trafficking before the assets were acquired, and that the properties and taxi licence were derived from the proceeds of that activity.

That decision was upheld by the Gibraltar Court of Appeal in April 2024 where they found there had been ample evidence from which the Chief Justice could reach that conclusion, after considering the evidence as a whole.

The family of Clint Serra then took the case to the Privy Council, Gibraltar’s highest court of appeal.

Their barrister, Ian Winter KC, argued that the authorities had not proved that the money used to acquire the assets came from drug trafficking carried out before they were purchased.

He accepted there was evidence linking Clint Serra to drug trafficking from March 2019, but said there was no evidence of drug trafficking before the earlier acquisitions.

His case was that later criminal activity, suspicious circumstances and the lack of a legitimate explanation for the funds were not enough, in law, to show that the assets were the proceeds of drug trafficking.

The Privy Council hearing was held by video link, with Director of Public Prosecutions Christian Rocca and prosecutor Kerrin Drago appearing for the Crown.

The judges considered whether the evidence, taken as a whole, was enough to support the finding that drug trafficking had taken place before the assets were acquired, and that the assets came from the proceeds of that activity

They said it was not necessary to prove a particular drug-trafficking offence on a specific date. 

Delivering the judgment, Lord Lloyd-Jones said both the Supreme Court and Gibraltar Court of Appeal had reached the same findings of fact.

He said the Privy Council would not normally reconsider those findings unless exceptional circumstances existed, and none had been put forward in this case.

Lord Lloyd-Jones, sitting with Lady Simler and Lord Snowden, said there was ample evidence to support the Chief Justice’s conclusion.

The Privy Council dismissed the appeal, leaving the civil recovery order in place.