New laws see £3.6m of criminals’ assets seized

More than £3.6 million has been seized from criminals in the past year as new legislation makes it easier for the Crown to seize assets.

The Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC said the Crown’s Proceeds of Crime and Civil Recovery teams has seized nearly £1 million more than at the same time last year.

Recent changes to the law mean restrictions – such as passport seizure, monthly repayment of criminal gains and a requirement to notify when a property is put up for sale – can now be imposed on criminals to ensure that assets are recovered.

From January new powers will mean money and assets that cannot be legitimately accounted for by individuals reasonably suspected of being involved in serious crime can be seized.

The Lord Advocate said: “The principle underpinning our proceeds of crime laws is simple – criminals should not be allowed to profit from their crimes. Law enforcement agencies will take robust action to remove criminal profits from those who benefit from them.

“The powers we have to target criminal assets are important weapons in tackling criminality, including serious organised crime. Using these powers, we can disrupt the ability of criminal enterprises to generate profit, and so continue to function.”

The Lord Advocate yesterday told the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce £3,650,000 has already been seized this year.