Money trail was the downfall of crime family
A NOTORIOUS crime family was brought down for a second time by the Met Police “following the money” according to DCS Mick Gallagher.
He said several law enforcement agencies had chased the Adams gang for drugs, gun and armed robbery offences but witnesses were too scared to testify.
But when some of the gang moved into insurance fraud they left an evidence trail that could be unpicked.
DCS Gallagher said: “It was a protracted investigation over five years.they were doing various insurance frauds in London and Manchester.
“Some criminal gangs rely on fear and intimidation to pressure people not to grass, but with a financial investigation you do not need that information.
“If you dig deep enough you will find the evidence. It may take a long time, but follow the money and you will find what you need.”
At its height in the 1980s and 1990s the gang was said to have amassed a £200million fortune.
The investigation led to Michael “Micky” Adams, 53, being jailed for 38 months in 2018 after he admitted tax evasion of around £500,000.
Brother Tommy Adams, 61, was jailed for seven years in 2017 for money laundering £250,000.
The gang was first toppled when its bossterry Adams, 65, got seven years for money laundering in 2007. In February he avoided another 12-month prison term after paying £46,000 of court costs from the original investigation at the eleventh hour.
Mr Gallagher said no “crime family” as such had taken over from the Adams gang.
He said: “Of course people have taken over, but we don’t tend to see them styling themselves as crime families now. Some of the best criminals never get arrested, but now it is more crime syndicates.
“If you have got a snake and cut its head off it dies, but these syndicates are polymorphic and never really die when there is money to be made.”