Asset Recovery
Asset recover... what is it?
It is all part of the The Proceeds of Crime Act
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), which also established the Assets Recovery Agency, was enacted to enable the confiscation of assets from persons who benefit from the proceeds of their criminal conduct.
The Act also allows the law enforcement agencies to investigate and act to:
- recover cash, property and other assets, which have been obtained through unlawful conduct or which is intended to be used in unlawful conduct, and to
- tackle money-laundering operations.
- What’s new about POCA
An essential element of POCA is that it is now possible to seize assets including cash, cars and homes - without the criminals involved being convicted of their crimes.
Before POCA, criminals were often able to ‘hide away’ the proceeds of their crimes knowing these were unlikely to be recovered – even after a successful conviction.
Through POCA, an individual can now have their assets confiscated if there is a genuine suspicion that these were obtained illegally – and the individual cannot prove differently.
This can include the assets of family members if these can be linked in.
Confiscation through POCA is achieved through the civil courts, which requires a lower standard of proof than criminal court proceedings.
The POCA investigations
POCA investigations are undertaken and proceedings instigated by police officers working through the economic crime units, criminal investigation divisions or through specially set up POCA teams – as in West Yorkshire.
They will receive information on those suspected of living off the proceeds of crime through a wide number of sources including other police and community support officers and individual members of the public.
If police officers suspect someone is living off the proceeds of crime they will contact their POCA teams direct.
Recovering the assets
As an example, Home Office figures show that £33.35million was seized from criminals in the UK, through POCA, between July and September 2008.
Fifty percent of this has been given to the law enforcement agencies to fund crime-fighting initiatives and to support communities damaged by crime.
More information on the Proceeds of Crime Act
The total asset recovery figures for the 08/09 can be found at : http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimereduction044.htm
Criminals are living off the proceeds of their crimes – at our expense
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, criminals can have their illegal earnings and possessions taken away – even if they are not convicted of the crimes they have committed
If you suspect someone is living off the proceeds of crime you can call theCrimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111 or visit their website which is www.crimestoppers-uk.org
Callers are not be asked to give their name or provide any information they are not happy to give
