UK: £50m London home to be sold as part of largest asset recovery settlement ever
A house in central London worth £50 million will be sold as part of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) largest asset recovery settlement ever.
The home at 1 Hyde Park Place will go on the market following a £190 million settlement that is the result of an investigation by the NCA into Pakistani tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain, 65, whose business is one of the biggest private sector employers in Pakistan.
In August 2019, eight account freezing orders were secured at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in connection with funds totalling around £120 million.
These followed an earlier freezing order in December 2018 linked to the same investigation for £20 million. All of the account freezing orders relate to money held in UK bank accounts.
The NCA has accepted a settlement offer in region of £190 million which includes the house, valued at approximately £50m and all of the funds in the frozen accounts.
Upon announcement of the settlement, Mr Hussain tweeted that some people were “twisting the NCA report 180 degrees to throw mud at me”.
He added: “I sold our legal and declared property in UK to pay £190m to Supreme Court … I am a proud Pakistani and I will remain until I breathe my last”.
The assets will be returned to the state of Pakistan.