Gary Pons acted for the City of London Police in an appeal by way of case stated in the High Court. This is an interesting case concerning the Crown Court's powers to release funds, which the Magistrates' Court has ordered to be forfeited, in order to fund the legal expenses in the appeal.
Click here to view the judgment in full in the case of Odeh v City of London Police [2026] EWHC 2904 (Admin).
The High Court determined that the Crown Court has no power to release forfeited monies to pay for the legal expenses of the appeal.
Gary is a talented and dedicated barrister. His approach to cases is distinguished by its careful preparation and measured execution.
Gary is ranked in both Chambers and Partners (Band 1), and the Legal 500 (Tier 1) for his work in the field of POCA and Asset Forfeiture work. He is recognised in the Lexology Index for Criminal Fraud. His experience in complex financial crime and asset forfeiture has allowed Gary to develop his practice over the years. His practice includes areas such as business crime, asset recovery and civil fraud, insolvency, and licensing.
Gary is fluent in Spanish. He has experience of foreign criminal proceedings having been involved for many years with two high profile cases in Costa Rica. He frequently advises on multi-jurisdictional asset recovery cases.
