Ex-lord mayor loses appeal over home seizure

The home of a former lord mayor of Leeds has been seized by the UK law enforcement agency responsible for tackling organised crime and drug trafficking after a court appeal was refused.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) won a High Court battle with Abigail Marshall Katung over the rights to the house on Sandmoor Drive in Alwoodley.

The house had been previously owned by a businessman who was suspected of money laundering offences. He handed it over in 2020 as part of a deal with the NCA.

Labour councillor Katung, who was not aware of the accusations made against the home's former owner, sought to appeal the judgement but this has been refused.

The court heard Katung had entered into an agreement with the previous owner to purchase the house in 2015.

She paid him about £400,000 of the contracted £1m purchase price. The remaining amount was never paid.

There is no suggestion that Katung was aware of the alleged criminality of the former owner.

The court heard the majority of the money used for Katung's deposit was routed from Nigeria to the UK via an informal value transfer system that she described as a "parallel" or "black" market.

The judge noted that Katung's husband, Sunday Marshall Katung, a state senator in Nigeria who was alleged to be the source of the money transferred to the UK, did not provide a witness statement.

In June 2025, the High Court found she had no legitimate interest or right to the property.

She sought permission to appeal against this, but it was denied, with a judge saying any appeal would have "no real prospect of success".

The authority secured a writ of possession last month authorising the property to be taken over by its legal owner, the NCA, which was enforced on Thursday.

A spokesperson said officers had been in and changed the locks but did not confirm when Katung had left the property.

Rob Burgess, head of asset denial at the NCA, said: "This matter has taken a considerable amount of time to litigate – at the taxpayer's expense.

"Now that the NCA has gained possession of the property, it will be sold, with the proceeds being returned to the public purse."

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