The Government has announced plans to recruit 500 new officers in a bid to tackle money laundering and organised crime.
According to the Home Office, new officers will be deployed across police forces, the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service to follow the money behind serious and organised crime, including through Russian and other international money laundering networks.
The new investigators will focus on going after the ‘kingpins’ behind Britain’s dirty money trade and blocking and seizing their money to cut off the cash that fuels organised crime.
The initiative is backed by £500m of investment over three years from the economic crime levy, and forms part of the new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy, which sets out how the UK will make it harder for criminals to hide, move or profit from crime.
It is expected the recruitment drive will build on the work of the High Street Organised Crime Unit, which is leading a nationwide crackdown on dodgy shops across the high street.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We are putting 500 more officers on the trail of dirty money, going after the criminal bosses behind organised crime and stripping them of the funds they use to fuel drug trafficking, people smuggling and other serious crime.
“By going after the profits of Britain’s biggest gangs, we will break their grip on our communities, put the money back in victims’ pockets and ensure crime does not pay.”
Welcoming the announcement, Ed Woodall, chief executive of Association of Convenience Stores, said: “Dodgy shops that act as a front for organised crime have no place on our high streets. More enforcement action against criminal assets will help shut down these operations, disrupt the networks behind them, and make it harder for criminals to profit from exploiting local communities.”
John Herriman, chief executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said: “Criminality is a scourge on our high streets that rips the heart out of local communities. CTSI wholeheartedly supports the Government’s commitment to tackling dodgy shops on the high street, including clamping down on the dirty money that funds criminality.
“Financial investigators are a vital tool in seizing and confiscating criminal assets, as well as helping to identify victims so they can get the redress they deserve. We hope that this additional funding, along with other targeted funding and measures which will directly support Trading Standards teams ability to close dodgy shops, will help lessen the burden of organised criminality on our high streets. We look forward to supporting the Government’s strategy to reinvigorate our high streets, and to its continued support for Trading Standards teams who are key enabler of this at the local level.”
Professor Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology at City St George’s, University of London and Director of APTUS Business Crime Research Centre, added:
“Following the money is essential if we are serious about disrupting organised crime. The Government’s announcement of 500 new officers and £500 million of investment is significant.
“My latest report, the Legitimate High Street Framework, highlights how organised criminal networks are exploiting legitimate-looking premises to sell illicit tobacco, stolen goods and other illegal commodities. These activities form part of wider criminal economies that distort competition and displace honest businesses.
“The opportunity now is to connect local intelligence with national financial intelligence and enforcement, targeting not only criminal assets but the businesses and networks that enable organised crime. If we want a genuine High Street Renaissance, we must prevent criminal economies from taking root and driving law-abiding citizens out of business.”
The additional resources was also welcomed by Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association.
“We welcome this new investment in tackling dirty money in the UK. 500 new officers focusing on the criminal kingpins higher up the supply chain will be of benefit to the legitimate vape businesses as well as our local communities.
“When people shop on their local high street they should not have to question if their money will end up as profits for gangs involved in illegal immigration, people smuggling, or drug crimes.”
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