Ex-lord mayor loses appeal over home seizure

Published: 06 March 2026
The English Chronicle Desk
The English Chronicle Online

The home of a former lord mayor of Leeds has been seized by the National Crime Agency after a court appeal was refused, bringing a long-running legal battle to a close .

Abigail Marshall Katung, a Labour councillor who served as lord mayor, lost her High Court battle with the NCA over the rights to the house on Sandmoor Drive in Alwoodley, an affluent suburb of Leeds . The property had been previously owned by a businessman suspected of money laundering offences, who handed it over in 2020 as part of a deal with the NCA .

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, with a judge ruling any appeal would have “no real prospect of success” .

The court heard Katung had entered into an agreement with the previous owner to purchase the house in 2015. She paid him approximately £400,000 of the contracted £1 million purchase price, but the remaining amount was never paid .

There is no suggestion that Katung was aware of the alleged criminality of the former owner. However, the court heard the majority of the money used for her 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 . The NCA secured a writ of possession last month authorising the property to be taken over, which was enforced on Thursday .

A spokesperson for the agency 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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