This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Proceeds of Crime Act in force
24/02/2003
Criminals operating in Scotland should find it more
difficult to profit from their crimes under new legislation
which comes into force today.
The Executive has made two Orders under the
Proceeds of Crime Act.
The first introduces a code of practice for the use of
investigation powers and the second will enable the Lord
Advocate and Scottish Ministers to access information and
ensure that efforts in pursuing the proceeds of crime are
joined up.
Deputy First Minister and Justice Minister Jim Wallace
said:
"The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 brings in a formidable
array of new powers to investigate, trace and recover the
proceeds of crime.
"I am delighted to say the new measures which come into
force today will strengthen the arm of the law against
people who profit from the misery of others.
"With new powers of criminal confiscation, civil
recovery and even taxation, we will be able to go for these
people where it hurts most - in the pocket. We will deprive
them of the cash to finance new criminal operations. They
will lose their cars, houses and cash - the spoils of a
criminal lifestyle - and we will stop them becoming role
models for young people within their local
communities."
Mr Wallace also announced nearly £3.5 million extra
funding for police forces to target more criminal assets
for recovery.
The money will enable the police to employ financial
annalysts to support their financial investigations into
identification, seizure and confiscation of criminal
assets.
This financial year the Executive has provided £300,000
- this will rise to £1 million in each of the next three
financial years.
The first of the Orders which come into effect today is
the
Investigations: Code of Practice Order.
This introduces a code of practice for people carrying out
functions of investigation under the Act in relation to
criminal confiscation, civil recovery or money
laundering.
The Act introduces three strong new powers of
investigation: customer information orders, account
monitoring orders and disclosure orders. These allow
investigators to access detailed information about the
financial dealings of suspected criminals.
The second Order, the
Information to and from the Lord Advocate and
Scottish Ministers Order, designates people who
may now exchange information with the Lord Advocate and the
Scottish Ministers over and above those already designated
in the Act.
It will allow the Lord Advocate and the Scottish
Ministers to access information from more people about
suspect activities, for example social security fraud,
offences involving motor vehicles and activities which
might be used for money-laundering.
Jim Wallace today also announced that it was likely the
Executive would seek to add to the list of offences
indicative of a criminal lifestyle.
If a court considers a person to have a criminal
lifestyle under the Act, it can order the confiscation of
assets representing the proceeds of crime from the six
preceding years.
The
Criminal Justice Bill passed by Parliament on
Thursday February 20 contains a new offence which will
cover trafficking for the purposes of prostitution or the
production of obscene material.
The Executive will be able to seek Parliamentary
approval to add it by Order to the list of "lifestyle
offences" in Schedule 4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
This will allow a court to consider that anyone convicted
under the new provisions has a criminal lifestyle, and to
penalise them accordingly.
In Scotland, the functions of the Act will be largely
performed by a Criminal Confiscation Unit (CCU)and a Civil
Recovery Unit (CRU). Taxation functions for the whole of
the UK will be performed by the Assets Recovery Agency.
The code of practice which comes into effect today also
covers two powers which are not new: production orders and
search warrants. The code will be available to members of
the public at police stations and on the Executive
website.
The offences indicative of a criminal lifestyle in
Scotland already specified in the Act are: money
laundering; drugs trafficking; directing terrorism; people
trafficking; arms trafficking; counterfeiting; intellectual
property offences; living on the earnings of prostitution,
soliciting for immoral purposes or running a brothel;
blackmail or extortion.
Implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is now
almost complete. Only Part 3 - on Confiscation - remains to
be commenced in Scotland. It is likely to be commenced
before the end of March.
Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC said :
"These are important new powers which will enable us to
target proceeds of crime more effectively than we have ever
done before.
"Our message today is clear - crime does not pay; and we
will use the full extent of these new powers to track down
and recover the proceeds of crime. We will systematically
remove the cars, cash, homes and other assets gained at the
expense of innocent victims of crime."
The CCU and CRU are each fully operational from today
with dedicated teams of professional staff, who have
already seen considerable success in recovering criminal
assets.
Lesley Thomson, head of the CCU joined COPFS in 1985.
Most recently, she was Procurator Fiscal at Selkirk and has
served in the Fraud and Specialist Services Unit, and
Glasgow and Paisley offices.
Lorna Harris, head of the CRU was previously a senior
lawyer in charge of international co-operation at the Home
Office