Council wants officer to track down proceeds of crime

CRIMINALS in the East Riding could soon have their ill-gotten gains seized by their local council.

East Riding Council has decided to appoint an authorised financial investigator who will have a range of powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act, including the ability to seize cash, and apply for court orders to freeze assets and seek restraint orders, account monitoring orders, customer information orders, disclosure orders and search and seizure orders.

An officer from the council’s trading standards department has already started training for the role, which was agreed by the council’s cabinet this week.

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Local authorities have been authorised to undertake proceedings under the Act since 2006, providing they have appropriately trained staff.

A fund set up by the Government under the Act in 2006 allows councils to retain a third of the assets recovered following a successful criminal prosecution, but the money can only be spent on covering costs and further law enforcement, not on general council services.

A report to the cabinet recommending the appointment of investigating officers said: “The Government has made it clear that it expects that the money should be spent on further criminal confiscation activity and law enforcement, such as to fund future investigations to tackle counterfeiters, rogue traders and other ‘lifestyle criminals’.

“It should also be noted that these proceedings will not initiate a regular, predictable income stream. Asset recovery is a crime-fighting measure; it deters future crime and reimburses the cost of investigation to the public purse where there is a prosecution.”

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Once confiscation proceedings have been sought by the prosecutor the crown court must process them.

If the offender is shown to have a lifestyle supported by criminal activities, the court must assume all assets acquired over the previous six years have been derived from crime and are eligible for confiscation, unless the offender can prove otherwise.