Financial Investigations
There are three main ways in which we will target criminal finances:
Money Laundering
Confiscation
Cash seizure
What Is Financial Investigation All About?
The vast majority of crime (in excess of 80%) committed in the UK is what is termed as acquisitive crime; that is to say that it is committed for profit and financial benefit. Historically, the police service, including this force has considered that once it has identified those involved in criminal conduct and taken them before the courts it has done its job. Unfortunately, career criminals, professional criminals, organised criminals or whatever term you may use to describe those making a living out of crime have reluctantly accepted arrest and imprisonment as an occupational hazard knowing fine well that when they had served their punishment they could return to enjoy the financial benefits of their offending.
Previous legislation has been complex, bureaucratic and somewhat cumbersome to work with. Also in the past the police response to financial investigation has been under resourced and under utilised.
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) has changed all of this. This piece of excellent new legislation provides law enforcement agencies with the tools to attack this type acquisitive crime. As well as bringing to justice those that participate in this type of conduct we will actively and vigorously pursue and remove any financial benefit accrued along the way. We as an organisation see this as a major way of attacking criminality, de-incentivising crime and providing public reassurance to the overwhelming majority of law abiding people within the force area showing that crime does not and will not pay.
POCA has created the new government agency of the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA). The aims of the agency are to disrupt organised criminal enterprise through the recovery of criminal assets and to promote the use financial investigation as an integral part of criminal investigation.
ARA has U.K. wide responsibility for the training and accreditation of financial investigators for law enforcement agencies as well as operational remit for the civil recovery of criminal assets. More information on the role of ARA can be obtained from it’s web site www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk
