Rose Litigation Lawyers has recently experienced an increase in enquiries relating to instances of cyber fraud, identity theft, internet and mobile banking fraud, as well as theft by employees and other persons in trusted positions.
If you are the victim of any such fraud, it is important that you take action immediately. This includes applying to the Court for urgent relief to protect and preserve your rights and interests (beyond the Police and the bank who may have limited resources to assist you).
Unfortunately, events of fraud often coincide with the transfer of monies overseas, but that does not mean you will automatically be left without a remedy. The Court has, at its disposal, a number of powers that can urgently assist you, including the ability to:
- Freeze both Australian and international bank accounts; and
- Freeze the Australian and worldwide assets of a person or entity, including land and personal property.
However, the Court also has often over-looked inherent or ancillary powers known as “Ne Exeat Colonia Orders” (meaning thou shall not leave the jurisdiction) or “No Departure Orders”, which can:
- Prevent a person from fleeing the jurisdiction, including placing them on the “Airport Watchlist” so they are intercepted by the Australian Federal Police if they attempt to fly overseas or leave a port of international departure;
- Prevent a person stet obtaining passports or international travel documents; and
- Require a person to handover their passports or international travel documents.
In Queensland, the power to grant a Freezing Order is now largely contained in rule 260A of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) (“UCPR”), which says that a freezing order can be made:
“… for the purpose of preventing the frustration or inhibition of the court’s process by seeking to meet a danger that a judgment or prospective judgment of the court will be wholly or partly unsatisfied …”
The Queensland Courts can also make orders ancillary to freezing orders, including Ne Exeat Colonia Orders or No Departure Orders, pursuant to rule 260B of the UCPR which states:
“… The court may make any order (an ancillary order) ancillary to a freezing order or prospective freezing order it considers appropriate …”
No Departure Orders can be obtained where there are:
“… real grounds for believing that the defendant is seeking to avoid the jurisdiction or for apprehending that if the defendant is allowed to depart the plaintiff will lose his debt or be prejudiced in his remedy …”[1]
Such orders may be your only means of recovering monies transferred overseas and are an important tool. Rose Litigation lawyers can assist you to obtain those orders, so if you are a victim of cyber fraud, identify theft, internet or mobile banking fraud, theft by employees or other persons, contact us immediately.
As one example only, Rose Litigation Lawyers was recently able to obtain Supreme Court Orders freezing almost $1million of an individual’s assets, requiring that individual to hand over passports and preventing that person from leaving Queensland or flying overseas. Almost $700,000 was secured before being transferred overseas. That remarkable outcome was achieved within only days of being first contacted by our clients and within hours of filing the application in the Supreme Court. The No Departure Orders have also provided significant leverage in the recovery of the balance of the monies.
[1] Glover v Walters (1950) 80 CLR 172