A major new McMafia order case was revealed yesterday, as a Dubai-based UK investment firm called Enspire Investments LLC approached the High Court claiming to be the victim of a complex fraud by the targets of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) who allegedly siphoned off their €45 million investment.
The court hearing brought to light an ongoing dirty money probe into two British businessmen, Paul John Barclay and David John Ubsdell, whose UK-registered companies are suspected by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of being used as “fronts to launder funds received from Enspire”.
The investigation started with a UWO and Interim Freezing Order against Barclay, Ubsdell and two UK-registered companies they own – a business consultancy and project finance firm called Chameleon Capital Holdings Ltd, and a luxury car contract hire and leasing firm called Club 365 Ltd.
Unexplained Wealth Orders on the rise
As our recent report on the UK’s asset recovery efforts exposed, UWOs have been few and far between since the new tool was introduced to much fanfare in 2017. Yet this new investment fraud case is part of a recent uptick in their use over the last two years.
In the period of May 2024 to May 2025, five UWOs were obtained by law enforcement – almost as many as were obtained since their introduction in early 2018. Recent UWOs have been linked to a $2 billion money laundering scandal in Singapore – with one already resulting in a £20 million settlement and the other UWO targeting £5 million in properties and £800,000 in cash owned by an anonymous woman.
This recent surge in the use of UWOs is largely thanks to the cost protection brought in by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act in 2023 which ensures that costs cannot be ordered against law enforcement agencies in these cases unless they act unreasonably, improperly or dishonestly. In a very welcome move, the government has now rolled out similar cost protection in all civil recovery cases through the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
The position of affected parties during an ongoing investigation
Enspire told the court yesterday that it first heard the NCA had frozen almost £30 million in HSBC bank accounts after the company’s managing director and owner, Soud Ba’alawy, was asked by John Barclay’s lawyer to sign a statement backing up the claim that there was no investment fraud.
The NCA’s investigation has since moved on, with the agency securing a Property Freezing Order as the next step towards permanently recovering the funds. But now Enspire has asked the court to vary this freezing order and add them as an interested party in the ongoing proceedings. Failing being added to the litigation, Enspire seeks access to the NCA’s witness evidence as a non-party and notice of future applications brought by the NCA.
Enspire argues that being joined as an interested party is necessary to “protect its position” so that the £30 million will not be “released into the Fraudster’s hands” if the NCA loses. In court yesterday, they also expressed concern that the NCA suspects them of being part of the fraud, rather than a victim.
Questions to be answered
The NCA opposes Enspire’s application, pointing to the firm’s ability to be added as a claimant in civil recovery proceedings later on. Claiming this status in civil recovery proceedings would require the firm to essentially prove they were victims of the fraud.
The court reserved judgment until a later date, no doubt to carefully consider the interesting questions raised at yesterday’s hearing of what entitlements are due to the alleged victims of economic crime and what access non-parties should be given while investigations remain ongoing.
