SFO secures £1.1 million with first Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)
10/09/2025
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured £1.1 million from the sale of a Lake District house in an investigation involving its first use of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO).
- Investigators traced criminal funds to a five-bedroom property called ‘Hope Springs House’ belonging to Claire Schools, ex-wife of convicted fraudster Timothy Schools.
- The house, which includes a two-bedroom lodge and views of the Lakeland Fells, was purchased using money from the School’s former husband’s multi-million-pound investment scheme fraud involving no-win, no-fee law firms.
- The UWO was granted at the High Court in January this year, with Claire Schools selling the property in April.
Timothy Schools
- Schools’ ex-husband, Timothy, was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for defrauding investors via a scheme that sold investment in legal cases.
- Timothy Schools diverted funds from the scheme to himself, receiving over £19 million in benefits.
- After Schools was convicted, he conceded he had transferred £1,083,067 in proceeds of crime to others, mainly family members.
Continued investigation
- The SFO’s investigation into Timothy Schools’ assets is ongoing with the next hearing scheduled for 26th September at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, said:
- We will use all the tools at our disposal to recover proceeds of crime from those associates and family members who seek to benefit from the criminal activity of others.
- Unexplained wealth orders offer investigative opportunities to pursue assets on behalf of victims and taxpayers. This is our first successful use of this legislation and it certainly won’t be the last.
The Solicitor General Rt Hon Ellie Reeves MP said:
- Fraud is a pernicious crime. It hurts individuals and businesses, and harms business confidence.
- I welcome the SFO’s successful recovery of more than £1 million from a convicted fraudster – one of the first law enforcement bodies to use such powers.
- This is money that will go straight back to the public purse and deny a prolific fraudster’s family benefiting from his criminal activities.
Source
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sfo-secures-11-million-with-first-unexplained-wealth-order
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As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.