New officers will be deployed across police forces, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Crown Prosecution Service to track dirty money, disrupt organised crime networks and seize criminal assets.
The new investigators will focus on going after the kingpins behind Britain’s dirty money trade. By blocking and seizing their money, the government will cut off the cash that fuels organised crime, from drug trafficking and people smuggling to the sham businesses that blight high streets.
Backed by £500m of investment over three years from the economic crime levy, the crackdown forms part of the new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy, which sets out how the UK will make it harder for criminals to hide, move or profit from crime.
It comes alongside new figures showing that almost £350m of dirty money was stripped from criminals and over £1bn denied in a year-long crackdown on dirty money. £26m was returned into the pockets of victims, 2,700 illicit finance operations disrupted and convictions for money laundering have increased to almost 4,000. A significant portion of money recovered from criminals will be directed towards public services and law enforcement, ensuring that the proceeds of crime are put to work protecting the public.
Almost £1m was stripped from people smugglers and immigration offenders over the past year, depriving criminal gangs of the funds they use to facilitate crossings as part of a wider crackdown on illegal migration.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:
“We are putting 500 more officers on the trail of dirty money, going after the criminal bosses behind organised crime and stripping them of the funds they use to fuel drug trafficking, people smuggling and other serious crime. By going after the profits of Britain’s biggest gangs, we will break their grip on our communities, put the money back in victims’ pockets and ensure crime does not pay.”
The Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy builds on the work of the High Street Organised Crime Unit, which is leading a nationwide crackdown on dodgy shops across the high street. The government said it was changing the law on closure orders to keep rogue vape and barber shops shut and criminal bosses behind bars.
Joshua Nicholson, Head of Housing and Communities at the Centre for Social Justice, said:
“Across the country, criminal gangs have been able to get away with laundering their dirty money in plain sight. Facilitated by the thousands of dodgy vape shops, mini-marts, and barbers on our high streets, these criminals are tearing apart once proud communities.
“We welcome efforts to go after the bosses who have hijacked our high streets. By restoring strong enforcement and clear consequences for crime, we can bring back hope to our communities and make them safe once more.”
Ed Woodall, Chief Executive of Association of Convenience Stores said:
“Dodgy shops that act as a front for organised crime have no place on our high streets. More enforcement action against criminal assets will help shut down these operations, disrupt the networks behind them, and make it harder for criminals to profit from exploiting local communities.”
John Herriman, Chief Executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said:
“Criminality is a scourge on our high streets that rips the heart out of local communities. CTSI wholeheartedly supports the government’s commitment to tackling dodgy shops on the high street, including clamping down on the dirty money that funds criminality.
“Financial investigators are a vital tool in seizing and confiscating criminal assets, as well as helping to identify victims so they can get the redress they deserve. We hope that this additional funding, along with other targeted funding and measures which will directly support trading standards teams’ ability to close dodgy shops, will help lessen the burden of organised criminality on our high streets. We look forward to supporting the government’s strategy to reinvigorate our high streets, and to its continued support for trading standards teams who are key enablers of this at the local level.”
Professor Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology at City St George’s, University of London and Director of APTUS Business Crime Research Centre, said:
“Following the money is essential if we are serious about disrupting organised crime. The government’s announcement of 500 new officers and £500 million of investment is significant.
“My latest report, The Legitimate High Street Framework, highlights how organised criminal networks are exploiting legitimate-looking premises to sell illicit tobacco, stolen goods and other illegal commodities. These activities form part of wider criminal economies that distort competition and displace honest businesses.
“The opportunity now is to connect local intelligence with national financial intelligence and enforcement, targeting not only criminal assets but the businesses and networks that enable organised crime.
“If we want a genuine High Street Renaissance, we must prevent criminal economies from taking root and driving law-abiding citizens out of business.”
