WIREDGOV

The NCA yesterday launched an appeal to identify assets belonging to criminals subject to Confiscation Orders of a million pounds or more. In total, the 15 subjects identified owe more than £46m.

A Confiscation Order is made by the court after conviction to deprive the defendant of the benefit they have obtained from crime. For serious and organised criminals, the sums can be substantial. It is important to recover assets both to prevent criminals enjoying a lifestyle only available to them as a result of the proceeds of crime, and also to remove the ability to use that money to fund future criminal activity.

All 15 cases identified in this pilot have been subject to significant investigation to identify recoverable assets, though the assets remain hidden, or in some cases may never have been available to the criminal. By seeking the assistance of the general public, and making details of the orders available to financial institutions, the NCA hopes that further assets may be identified and recovered.

Nigel Kirby, Deputy Director of the NCA’s Economic Crime Command commented: “There may be a number of reasons that a Confiscation Order has not been paid in full: the criminal may have hidden their assets beyond law enforcement’s reach, the order may have been based on presumed criminal profit which never actually existed, or based on assets that the court has subsequently deemed are not recoverable. Whatever the reason, this pilot is part of our work to ensure every avenue to recover these monies is explored. If this initial pilot proves successful, we will expand the appeal and publicise details of many more unpaid confiscation orders as we continue to tighten up on money laundering and criminal profits.”

Anyone with information relating to assets held by subjects of this appeal can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, report via theCrimestoppers website or they can call the NCA direct on 0370 496 7622 quoting Operation Repay.

• See full details of all 15 appeals