Dec 2004

• 16/12/04 Issue 40 - 16/12/04
  On Monday 13th December 2004 Northamptonshire Police obtained its largest confiscation order to date. Basildon Crown Court made a confiscation order against a solicitor from Northampton for £500,591. ......
• 02/12/04 Issue 39 - 02/12/04
  The luxury Crawfordsburn home of the late James Herbert Johnston went under the hammer at the first auction of assets seized by the Assets Recovery Agency. The property was sold for a substantial sum with the proceeds being recycled into crime fighting. ......

Nov 2004

• 18/11/04 Issue 38 - 18/11/04
  Since going live in January 2004, the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team has been involved in 65 confiscation cases concerning 160 individuals who are believed to have benefited from crime in the North East ......
• 04/11/04 Issue 37 - 04/11/04
  Nottinghamshire Police Financial Investigation Unit have achieved the following recent successes: 22nd September 2004 they obtained a cash forfeiture order for £30,985. Following a routine stop of a vehicle on 10th June 2003 the occupant was found in possession of ½ kilogram of Heroin. The man gave details of his home address which turned out to be the address of a known drug dealer and prostitute. During a subsequent search of this address £17,880 in cash was recovered from the bedroom of th ......

Oct 2004

• 26/10/04 Issue 36 - 26/10/04
  Since the launch of the London RART on 5th January 2004, the team have achieved some remarkable results. They have successfully obtained 24 Confiscation Orders, totalling over £15.5 million, are dealing with POCA cash seizures totalling £675,565 and have achieved forfeiture orders of nearly £55,000. ......
• 14/10/04 Issue 35 - 14/10/04
  It was announced on the 13 October 2004 that almost £800,000 has been recovered from criminals in the last six months in Scotland under the Proceeds of Crime Act. £790,932 has been recovered following action taken by the Financial Crime Unit and the Civil Recovery Unit, Scotland. ......

Sep 2004

• 30/09/04 Issue 34 - 30/09/04
  Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) achieved the first civil Recovery Order in the UK to exceed £1 million on 20 September 2004 at Belfast High Court. Assets forfeited include nine houses and a set of commercial premises in Belfast. ......
• 16/09/04 Issue 33 - 16/09/04
  A bankrupt who claimed he had lost more than £200,000 in a drug deal that went wrong has been ordered to pay a confiscation order of £65,000 within three months, or face an additional six months in jail, following his conviction in a prosecution by the Department of Trade and Industry. ......
• 02/09/04 Issue 32 - 02/09/04
  On 4 March 2003 at Truro Crown Court, a 54 year old man was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and perverting the course of justice. He had previously pleaded guilty to a number of counts relating to offences under the Sexual Offences Act. He was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. ......

Jul 2004

• 08/07/04 Issue 30 - 08/07/04
  On 6th April 2004 Kent Police Serious Crime Unit seized 59.53 kilos of Cannabis and 7.71 Kilos of amphetamine from a lock up garage in Sidcup. A number of suspects were linked to the location. ......

Jun 2004

• 24/06/04 Issue 29 - 24/06/04
  The Civil Recovery Unit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was granted a civil recovery order at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Over £165,000 of suspected drugs money - the largest single amount recovered under the civil recovery provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act – had been invested in bonds and bank accounts by the father of two men who are serving lengthy prison sentences for drug related crimes. ......
• 10/06/04 Issue 28 - 10/06/04
  Customs and Excise Financial Investigators in Manchester have obtained restraint orders in relation to substantial assets held by a Manchester based man, his wife and his father. These assets include a development consisting of 21 new build flats/houses in the Yorkshire area, a further property development in a south Manchester suburb and eight other properties in Manchester and Dubai. ......

May 2004

• 27/05/04 Issue 27 - 27/05/04
  The Assets Recovery Agency secured its first Civil Recovery Order on 14 May in a case referred to them by West Mercia Economic Crime Unit. Although for a relatively small amount, £16,049, it is a significant result against an individual who had a confiscation order quashed and who, had the Proceeds of Crime Act not been in place, would have been able to continue to enjoy the proceeds of his criminality. ......
• 13/05/04 Issue 26 - 13/05/04
  H M Customs investigators at Heathrow have obtained a confiscation order of £3.2 million from a drugs trafficker. The Order was issued at Hove Crown Court on May 6 after a 2 day contested hearing. ......

Apr 2004

• 29/04/04 Issue 25 - 29/04/04
  As the result of a successful Surrey Police investigation a car trader from Camberley has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and a total of £443,150 proceeds of crime has been forfeited. ......
• 15/04/04 Issue 24 - 15/04/04
  A confiscation order of £1.5 million was imposed at Derby Crown Court on 7 April - it is Derbyshire Constabulary Financial Investigations Unit’s (FIU) biggest yet. This resulted from an investigation that followed a plea of guilty to four offences of stealing petrol to a value of £219.58. ......
• 02/04/04 Issue 23 - 02/04/04
  The Enforcement Taskforce has achieved some significant results. It has collected over £20m from almost 500 defendants since its establishment in December 2002. Set up to ensure criminals subject to existing confiscation orders pay up in full, the oldest case successfully enforced was on an order made over 13 years ago. ......

Mar 2004

• 18/03/04 Issue 22 - 18/03/04
  Surrey Police have achieved their first cash forfeiture. A concealed compartment in a garden fence revealed just under 1 kilo of 98% pure cocaine, 237 ‘ecstasy’ tablets and £183,150 in cash. ......
• 04/03/04 Issue 21 - 04/03/04
  The Assets Recovery Agency last week successfully applied for two Mareva Injunctions in the High Court in Belfast to freeze assets in two cases. In the first, referred to ARA by PSNI, assets to the value of £240,000 in the possession of individuals in the East Belfast area were frozen in a case linked to alleged drug trafficking and loyalist paramilitary activity. ......

Feb 2004

• 19/02/04 Issue 20 - 19/02/04
  Bedfordshire Police made a cash seizure on Friday 13 February 2004, when the Cheque and Plastic Card Unit executed a search warrant at an address in Luton. They discovered a quantity of bank notes secreted in blankets, subsequently found to be £16,900. ......

Jan 2004

• 22/01/04 Issue 18 - 22/01/04
  Cheshire Police were awarded four separate orders during the week beginning 8 December 2003. Magistrates at Crewe forfeited £25,000 recovered from a box of flowers sent from Guernsey, and a further £31,250 seized during subsequent enquiries ......
• 08/01/04 Issue 17 - 08/01/04
  On 6th December 2003, an Application for Detention of cash by Cleveland Police was authorised by Teesside Magistrates Court in relation to two seizures from the same operation. ......