Agencies to benefit from criminals' cash
WILTSHIRE Police is getting a £25,000 cash boost from assets seized from criminals., the Home Office has announced.
A total of £5.5 million is being given to police forces in England and Wales, with £25,358.97 going to Wiltshire.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service and Her Majesty's Courts Service are to also benefit.
Nationally, CPS will receive £2.89 million, while HMCS will receive £2.56 million.
Criminal assets confiscated by police forces and other asset recovery agencies between July and September 2008 totalled
£33.53 million, half of which is to be shared between police, prosecutors and courts.
Since the Proceeds of Crime Act came into effect in 2003, £530.5 million has been seized. An incentive scheme introduced in 2006 allows the police and recovery agencies to retain half of all cash they seize from criminals.
Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:
"This scheme is a great benefit for policing. Taking money from criminals makes crime far less profitable for them.
"Recovering more than £30million from criminals in the space of three months is a great achievement and I want to thank the police and other partners for their hard work in seizing the money and undermining criminal gangs.”