Met seizes £1m of crime cash from back of cab
Scotland Yard reveals record £73m confiscated in a year under the Proceeds of Crime Act
A SPORTS bag containing nearly £1 million in banknotes was seized from a black-cab driver attempting to ferry the illicit payment across east London, Scotland Yard said yesterday.
The £943,000 was found after officers pulled over the taxi and discovered a large holdall in the passenger compartment during a clampdown on organised crime.
The Metropolitan Police revealed that £73 million was confiscated from convicted criminals in London during 2015-16 – the largest amount since the Proceeds of Crime Act was introduced in 2002.
Other operations ended in the seizure of a suitcase containing £500,000 stashed inside another vehicle, myriad Class A drugs, and a Ferrari 612.
In May 2015, police seized £6,328,119 from two men who laundered money from a string of brothels in central London. Scotland Yard believes Ashley Sheldrick and Terrence Hart, the former owners of East Village Nightclub, in Shoreditch, made more than £12 million from the scheme.
Both men were jailed for a total of 18 years after they were found guilty of conspiring to run brothels and launder the profits.
They set up bogus hospitality companies and applied to merchant services providers for chip and pin machines for non-existent events. These were used by punters to pay for sex.
The money confiscated from criminals is automatically forfeited to the police. The majority of the funds are later paid to the Home Office, although a small percentage is then returned to the Met through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme.
Announcing the record seizures two weeks before he leaves office, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said the hauls had sent a clear message to London’s organised crime networks.
“The MPS is here to reduce crime and keep people safe. It’s satisfying to see criminals pay back for the damage they cause communities through the assets we’ve recovered. The message is loud and clear – crime does not pay and criminals who think it does will have to deal with the full force of the MPS.”
Since Sir Bernard’s appointment in 2011, the Met has seized a total of £317.14 million, providing the force with an additional £40 million to help fund financial investigations and target organised criminal gangs.
The 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act gives police the power to identify and confiscate assets obtained from a criminal lifestyle. Under the Act, police can investigate the financial affairs of a suspect to see if any of their assets were obtained through criminal means. If they are found guilty, a court can order criminals to hand over their property.