This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Police target more proceeds of crime
31/07/2006
Smaller sums of money obtained by criminal means today became eligible for seizure by police as the minimum seizure threshold is lowered from £5,000 to £1,000.
Cash search and seizure powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) allow police and customs officers to seize money suspected to be the profit of crime or intended for use in crime.
The threshold has been been lowered to tackle those who have sought to transport tainted cash in amounts just below the previous threshold in order to evade the POCA provisions.
Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry said:
"We are determined to continue using the powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to disrupt criminal activity.
"Reducing the threshold so officers can seize cash of stashes of at least £1,000 will allow the police to target local drug dealers and other small-time criminals whose activities destroy lives and blight communities.
"Nearly £10 million of criminal assets has been recovered from criminals in Scotland since the Act came into force in 2003.
"Criminals should be in no doubt - the net is continuing to widen over the ill-gotten gains of those who seek to profit from the misery of others."
The Lord Advocate, Lord Boyd of Duncansby QC, said:
"We will use the full powers available to us under the Act to ensure that crime does not pay.
"In communities across Scotland we will identify and recover the proceeds of crime, and show that while a life of crime may have short term attractions it will no longer be an easy way to make cash.
"There should be no doubt that we will take all possible action to deprive people of their ill-gotten gains, and to improve the quality of life for the law abiding majority."
Since 2003 a total of £9.9 million has been recovered from criminals under the Act's various powers, including more than £4.8 million in the past year alone.
In the current financial year around £2 million of proceeds of crime will be reinvested in the six local authority areas in Scotland which suffer the most serious and violent crime.