Crooks target Yorkshire firms

FRAUDSTERS are infiltrating Yorkshire companies, filling senior roles to steal cash themselves or targeting corrupt managers who will do their dirty work for them, police have warned.

Businesses are being urged to tighten security and keep a closer eye on employees to ensure money from their accounts is not used to fund other serious crimes such as drug smuggling and people trafficking.

Many cases only came to light during the recession, when companies under pressure examined their books and discovered accounting irregularities.

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The rise in corporate scams, combined with the growing problem of internet fraud, shows how organised criminals are exploring new methods to make ill-gotten gains.

The head of West Yorkshire Police's crime division, Det Chief Supt Howard Crowther, said: "The culture and the way of working is changing. Criminals are becoming very proactive and things are done much more quickly.

"There are so many different tactics that anyone can use, it becomes very difficult to predict what criminals will do next."

Det Chief Supt Crowther said his force's economic crime unit had uncovered a large number of conspiracies during the economic downturn.

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He said: "We have seen more reporting of this during the recession. Since profit margins got cut, there has been a greater willingness to report incidents to the police.

"Businesses have to tighten their systems and regulate the people responsible for allocating funds. They have to be really alive to where systems begin to operate differently."

Fraud has become big business, its proceeds often used to fund other crimes but statistics suggest drug dealing remains the most lucrative pursuit for organised crooks.

Almost half of the 5,000 criminal groups mapped by the Government's organised crime partnership board are thought to be involved in drugs.

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Police believe the number of large-scale cannabis factories in Yorkshire peaked two years ago but smaller, more isolated production centres continue to thrive on some residential estates.

Criminal groups are coming up with more ingenious methods to bring drugs into the UK, from storing stashes in the air conditioning units of lorries to hiding amounts in the spines of books.

"The avenues keep closing," Det Chief Supt Crowther said, "but criminals find new ways of doing things and we have to keep up with them all the time."

He added that organised crime groups could vary in size "from two to infinity" as the internet brought together people based in lots of different locations.

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Gangs co-operate frequently, sharing information and making deals in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the law.

Each gang has its own hierarchy and that hierarchy is known to all the others, and some criminals, particularly money handlers, are members of more than one group.

Guns keep the drugs trade moving, and they are shared between gangs just as illegal substances are moved around the region.

West Yorkshire Police has a specialist team which investigates drug dealing and its links to firearms, Operation Quartz, and officers have been helped by the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS), a body created two years ago by the Government to monitor gun crime.

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NABIS provides detailed intelligence about guns and ammunition, and works with organisations like the Serious Organised Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs to stop the illegal importation of firearms.

Many of the guns recovered by the police in Yorkshire are either modified or not working properly.

In a recent case in Leeds, for example, a gang linked to several high-value robberies tried to assassinate a rival criminal but the gun jammed at the critical moment.

Det Chief Supt Crowther said shootings were more common in Leeds when drug wars intensified in the early 2000s.

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"How effective you are in tackling the drug trade will probably have an impact on the levels of violence you encounter," he added.

The tactics and the results

DRUGS: Bradford has been identified as a major centre for the distribution of Class A drugs. The supply chain often stretches into Europe with drugs commonly coming to the UK from Spain and the Netherlands.

GUNS: Crime gangs use firearms to enforce the drug trade and, due to their scarcity, often share them. Many guns recovered by the police have either been adapted or are defective.

FRAUD: Internet and credit card scams using stolen identity details can bring huge returns in seconds but some groups go one step further and get people employed in businesses to defraud them from within.

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ROBBERIES: Robberies are high-risk ventures as scene evidence can make gangs easier to catch. Close-knit groups, such as those involving family members or school friends used to getting their way through intimidation and violence, often stick to methods they know.

MONEY LAUNDERING: Groups must conceal money, so while some members fritter away cash others buy properties and luxuries. The most sophisticated set up businesses to hide their gains behind cloaks of legitimacy.

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