On 17 September 2007 Hertfordshire Police reported that four men have between them received 19 charges in relation to Proceeds of Crime offences after several camper vans believed to be stolen and put on false number plates were seized during an operation in Hemel Hempstead. The charges follow a police operation in Hertfordshire in response to a national operation co-ordinated by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) which took place at a traveller’s site in Hemel Hempstead in March 2007. Eleven motor vehicles worth between £5,000 and £15,000 each, a number of plasma TVs, camcorders and laptops were also recovered. Detective Sergeant Mike Hanson, Case Investigation Team, Watford said: “A restraining order has been made via the courts for approximately £100,000 and £55,000 belonging to two men. Both men are unemployed and it is believed that the money has been gained via criminal activity. If convicted of the offences, assets can be confiscated over the last six years, which really shows that crime does not pay and criminals are being hit in the pocket where it hurts.”

On 14 September 2007 at Worcester Crown Court a defendant was ordered to pay back £240,000 within 28 days or face a three year prison sentence in default. The man was found guilty in February 2006 at Worcester Crown Court of arranging the acquisition of criminal property in relation to a stolen car valued at approximately £30,995 contrary to Section 328 (1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He was later sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. Operation Jackal was an investigation into the thefts of motor vehicles over more than two years conducted by West Mercia Constabulary Serious Organised Crime Unit. The total value of vehicles stolen through the use of forged Bankers Drafts was estimated to be in excess of £500,000.  The man was found to have benefited from his criminality in the sum of £418,907. He had received large sums of monies into his bank accounts of unknown source and had purchased property and high value vehicles, as well as being in possession of large amounts of cash and jewellery on arrest.  Enquiries with HM Revenue & Customs confirmed the absence of any legitimate income by way of employment/benefits for the man over the past six years. The man’s asset’s included a part share in a domestic property, large amounts of monies held in bank accounts, high value vehicles and an amount of cash seized by police on arrest.

On 6 September 2007 at Bournemouth Crown Court following a prosecution brought by Dorset County Council’s Trading Standards Service, a man from Southbourne was ordered to pay £37,248 plus £2,460 costs. Earlier in April 2007 at Bournemouth Crown Court, he was sentenced to a four week custodial sentence for committing eight offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994. These offences related to having sold counterfeit clothing and jewellery. Trading standards officers carrying out checks at a car boot sale seized approximately 490 branded items from his stall. Bill Jaggs, Head of Regulatory Services for Dorset County Council said: “The sale of counterfeit clothing unfairly damages the business of local retailers, harms legitimate suppliers of branded products and means that consumers are presented with poor quality imitations. Anyone found to be selling counterfeit goods in Dorset faces having their stock seized and forfeited, as well as community orders, fines or in some cases imprisonment. Dorset’s Trading Standards Service is now working together with Dorset Police to enable financial investigations to be carried out on those involved in supplying counterfeit goods. The Proceeds of Crime Act means that severe financial consequences may follow where individuals are successfully prosecuted under the Trade Marks Act, and they have made money from trading in counterfeits.”

On 14 September 2007 at Southwark Crown Court a woman who was sentenced to three years and nine months was also ordered to pay a confiscation order in the sum of £219,060 or face three years imprisonment in default. Earlier in May 2007 the woman from Kent pleaded guilty to 19 counts of deception and one attempted deception. She worked for a company in London which provided a link between Government Departments, in this case the Department of Health. The company provided milk vouchers to nursery schools dependant upon the number of children provided with milk. The nursery schools are then given money. The defendant set up a fictitious nursery with various addresses and processed these claims. The bank accounts provided belonged to the defendant and she processed several claims over a period of approximately a year, some individually totalling £10,000. The total of her claims came to £284,845. A financial investigation by the London Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) showed that she had bought several properties by using her friends to apply for the mortgage. She gave these friends money for the deposit on three properties in Middlesborough, one in Milton Keynes and she bought a fifth property in her own name in south London. She had told her friends that the money came from re-mortgaging her own home. She also sent at least £25,000 to her family in Nigeria.

On 13 September 2007 at Isleworth Crown Court three men were ordered to pay confiscation orders, which totalled more than £2.3 million for their part in an immigration fraud. One man was ordered to pay £285,000 in one year or face a further four years in prison, a second man was ordered to pay £416,000 within 12 months or serve five years in default and a third man was ordered to pay £1.6 million within eighteen months or face eight years imprisonment. All three were jailed in 2005 after they had pleaded guilty to 20 offences relating to obtaining leave to remain in the UK for people using false applications. It is estimated that they have assisted more than 150 people to illegally remain in the UK.  The confiscation orders were obtained by the London Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART). One member of the trio travelled around hotels in London and Zimbabwe looking for clients. He claimed that for £1,200 he was able to obtain documents from the Home Office allowing individuals to stay in the UK.   With the help of the other two defendants he made bogus applications to the Home Office to obtain visas based on the applicants claiming to be students at an Accountancy School in South London. They then acted as references for the college confirming that the applicants were students. The three men were arrested as a result of an operation by the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Maxim Team and the South African Police.

Applications are being sought for a top award recognising excellence amongst the UK's accredited financial investigators. The aim of the ‘Keith Hughes Award for Excellence in Financial Investigation’ is designed to reflect the achievements and recognise those who have made an outstanding contribution within the law enforcement financial investigation field generally. The awards (for single and team efforts) will be presented at the Midlands Regional Payback Conference in January 2008. This award is open to accredited financial investigators nationally and can be awarded to an individual or a team. For further information please email keithhughesaward@koala121.com  or telephone 020 7238 2956.  The closing date for nominations is Friday 9 November, 2007.

ICSeftonandWestLancs online reported that a Gangmaster was ordered to pay back £1.4m in realisable assets or face a ten year prison sentence in default. More than £6m of his £7m spread across five bank accounts was linked to the employment and housing of illegal immigrants.

TheSentinel online reported that a couple who ran a brothel in Stoke-on-Trent have been ordered to repay almost £100,000 which they had made from the criminal activity of keeping brothels across the Midlands for prostitution. The investigation was part of Operation Pentameter.

The European Serious Organised Crime Conference will take place on the 4-6 March 2008 at the Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool. For further information please visit www.neilstewartassociates.com

Payback Conference – There will be no national conference this year but three Regional Payback Conferences which will be held covering the Northern region in November 2007, the Midlands in January 2008 and the South in March 2008. For further information please email conferences@ara.gsi.gov.uk

This newsletter is produced on behalf of the assets recovery community of organisations by the Assets Recovery Agency and is distributed by the Government News Network News Distribution Service. If you have items of news for inclusion in a future edition, have suggestions for improvements, would like to be removed from the distribution list or know of anyone who would like to be added to it, please contact poca.update@ara.gsi.gov.uk