This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Cash recoveries hit record levels
08/09/2006
More than £600,000 has been recovered so far this financial year from people seeking to profit from criminal activity - already exceeding the amount recovered the previous year.
The Civil Recovery Unit, formed as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, can recover money from those suspected to have profited from crime or money which was intended for use in crime.
Latest figures show that in the first five months of the current financial year the unit has recovered more than £615,000 in cash, compared to £604,194 for the whole of the 2005-2006.
The Lord Advocate, Lord Boyd of Duncansby QC, said:
"The successful introduction of the Proceeds of Crime legislation has provided a range of measures through which we have been able to disrupt the behaviour of those who would engage in and seek to profit from illegal activities."
"The figures in the first five months of this financial year are impressive. It is clear that there is no hiding place for those who seek to profit from the misery of others. Police officers are using the full extent of their cash seizures powers, and by working together we will continue to disrupt criminal activity at every level."
"We are also showing people in our communities that while a life of crime may have short term attractions, criminals will not benefit in the longer term."
The Civil Recovery Unit is already on course to recover in excess of £1 million by the end of this financial year - a target boosted by the recent lowering of the cash seizure threshold from £5,000 to £1,000.
In the months since the amount was lowered the unit has taken on as many new cases in one month as would previously have been reported over four months.
Cash recoveries continue to disrupt the activities of drug dealers in Scottish communities and the new threshold means that even the street corner drug dealers are at risk of losing their profits. The latest recoveries also include money taken from those who would seek to profit from human trafficking and prostitution.
The announcement came as the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General Elish Angiolini QC visited the temporary Glasgow Fiscal's offices in Nile Street, where prosecution staff have been based during extensive refurbishment works in Ballater Street.