ASSETS RECOVERY
AGENCY News Release issued by The Government News Network on 10
December 2007
The Assets
Recovery Agency (ARA), working in partnership with the Marine and
Fisheries Agency (MFA), an executive agency of the Department of
the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has successfully
concluded a criminal confiscation investigation resulting in the
Crown Court in Liverpool today granting five Confiscation Orders
in the total sum of £1,075,056 in respect of three individuals and
two companies convicted of landing fish stocks in excess of their
permitted quota.
ARA's confiscation investigation followed the convictions in
January at Liverpool Crown Court of Charles Leslie McBride, aged
54, of Kilkeel, Charles Hubert McBride, 35 years of Kilkeel,
Leslie Clifford Girvan, 64 of Kilkeel, and two companies: McBride
Fishing Company Limited, of which the McBrides are joint Directors
and Kilkeel Fish Selling Company Limited, of which Girvan is
Director. All five pleaded guilty to several specimen charges of
making inaccurate fish landing declarations.
The prosecutions were brought by the Marine and Fisheries Agency
after the detection of inaccurate fish landing declarations
involving 12 fishing vessels, some of which were owned and
controlled by the defendants during a period from January to
October 2003.
ARA's confiscation investigation focused on whether or not,
and if so, to what extent, the defendants have benefited from
their illegal activity of under declaring the nature and value of
fish catches when landing, at Kilkeel, County Down, Northern
Ireland and Whitehaven, Cumbria - a practice commonly known as
landing 'black' fish.
Today at Liverpool Crown Court, His Honour Judge Nigel Gilmour
held that the five defendants had benefited from their criminal
conduct in these offences to a sum totalling £15,115,204:
*
£647,334 in respect of Charles Leslie McBride:
* £489,689 in
respect of Charles Hubert McBride;
* £1,003,686 in respect of
Leslie Clifford Girvan;
* £380,242 in respect of McBride
Fishing Company Limited; and
* £12,594,253in respect of
Kilkeel Fish Selling Company Limited.
He then further made Confiscation Orders in the following
sums:
* £150,813 against Charles Leslie McBride;
*
£224,348 against Charles Hubert McBride;
* £498,506 against
Leslie Clifford Girvan;
* £10,613 against McBride Fishing
Company Limited; and
* £190,776 against Kilkeel Fish Selling
Company Limited.
The Judge ordered that Charles Leslie McBride and Charles Hubert
McBride had 6 months to pay or serve a period of imprisonment of
two years and three months and two years and 6 months respectively
in default, at the conclusion of which sentences they will still
owe the full confiscation amounts.
In the case of Leslie Girvan he was also given 6 months to pay or
serve a period of imprisonment of three years and 6 months in
default, at the conclusion of which he will still owe the full
confiscation amount. Both companies were given 6 months to pay.
Commenting on this latest success, ARA Deputy Director
Operations, Charlie Dickin, said: "This is one of three cases
where we have worked alongside the Marine and Fisheries Agency and
shows our determination to recover the proceeds from all types of
illegal activity including those that threaten sustainable fish stocks."
Marine and Fisheries Agency District Inspector, Mike Parker,
said: "This is a serious case of cheating the system which is
designed to safeguard fish stocks and thus protect the livelihoods
of fishermen. This type of prosecution is necessary to prevent the
unlawful landing of species that are subject to quota limits and
the confiscation of assets will send out a clear message to those
involved in similar activity that the government is resolute in
its approach to recover the proceeds of crime from such behaviour."
Notes for Editors:
1. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 created
the Assets Recovery Agency and in addition to confiscation
proceedings pursuant to a criminal conviction provided completely
new powers to allow ARA to seek civil recovery of the proceeds of
unlawful activity by an action in the High Court. The Agency can
also issue tax assessments where there are reasonable grounds to
suspect that there is taxable income, gain or profit from criminal conduct.
2. In addition to these unique powers, the Agency is committed to
building capacity for effective financial investigation throughout
the law enforcement community and it offers its expertise to other
agencies to assist them in confiscating criminal assets.
3. The Agency is playing its part in the multi-agency approach to
deliver the Government's Asset Recovery Strategy. Under the
cross government initiative 'Payback', the tracing of
and recovery of assets is seen as an important element in the
delivery of justice, and sends out a strong deterrent message. The
overall aims of the strategy are to make greater use of the
investigations of criminal assets in the fight against crime;
recover money that has been made from crime or which is intended
for use in crime; prevent criminals and their associates from
laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct, and detect and
penalise such laundering where it occurs; to use the proceeds
recovered for the benefit of the community.
4. On 31 October 2007, the Serious Crime Bill received Royal
Assent. The new Act will merge the operational elements of the
Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) with the Serious Organised Crime
Agency (SOCA), and the training and accreditation functions with
the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). It will also
extend to certain prosecutors the power to launch civil recovery
action under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Until then ARA will
continue to operate as before and use its powers to the full in
proceeding to complete existing cases and adopt new cases for
future action.
Assets Recovery Agency, PO Box 39992
London EC4M 7XQ
T +44 (020) 7029 5700
F +44 (020) 7029 5706
E
enquiries@ara.gsi.gov.uk http://www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk