Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

SFO’s US$7.7m account forfeiture from ex-Petrobras executive faces first appeal, testing civil recovery under the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and reliance on non-final Brazilian convictions

Published on: 29 September 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

At Southwark Crown Court, the SFO intends to tell a judge that the US$7.7m taken from a former Petrobras executive is tied to the vast corruption affair that swept through Brazil. Mario Ildeu de Miranda, the ex-oil and gas executive, maintains the funds in his accounts derive from lawful earnings after he left Petrobras in 2003, when he set up as an oil and gas adviser.

This matter marks the first appeal by the subject of an SFO account forfeiture order, placing the agency’s civil recovery toolkit under scrutiny. According to Nick Barnard, a partner at Corker Binning LLP, the SFO brings fewer cases of this sort because its caseload often features major probes centred on corporates, yet situations like this demonstrate a readiness to use these powers when appropriate.

In recent years, the SFO has been successful in reclaiming criminal proceeds. The agency has obtained its first unexplained wealth order against the former wife of a convicted solicitor, and has chased illicit gains (including donations to schools) from a property trader jailed over one of the UK’s largest mortgage frauds. The hearing will therefore test the boundaries of civil recovery in an appellate setting for the SFO itself...

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