Agenda item
Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Proceeds Of Crime Update
Thisreport updates the Joint Advisory Board on work carried out by the Financial Investigation Team since its establishment in 2012 and on the future implications and concerns of work carried out under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Minutes:
Members considered a report that updated the Joint Advisory Board on work carried out by the Financial Investigation Team since its establishment in 2012 and on the future implications and concerns of work carried out under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Simon Legg explained that the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) was a piece of legislation used in relation to confiscating money that had been acquired as a result of crime. The Act also provided Accredited Financial Investigators (AFI) with a robust set of powers for investigating, restraining and confiscating assets as recovering the proceeds of crime remained one of the government’s top priorities for law enforcement.
In 2012 Brent and Harrow Trading Standards Service established a dedicated Financial Investigation Team to take advantage of the opportunities offered by POCA to ensure that criminals did not financially benefit from wrongdoing and that confiscated proceeds of crime could be used towards the cost of carrying out investigations.
The Government introduced an incentivisation scheme to encourage authorities to use POCA. The scheme, administered by the Home Office, allowed local authorities to retain a percentage of all successful confiscation orders obtained, when they were paid. He drew members’ attention to the relevant table in the report from which it was noted that since April 2011 the team had secured 60 confiscation orders resulting in a total £2,053,376.43 payment from the Home Office under the incentivisation scheme and that Brent and Harrow Trading Standards had received £662,168.68.
Members heard that from April 2011 to December 2016 the team received 271 referrals. These included 73 from Brent & Harrow Trading Standards, 68 from services within Brent Council, 13 referrals from services within Harrow Council and 44 referrals from other London Boroughs. Although some referrals were still under investigation, many would lead to successful confiscation orders. Following each referral, a financial investigation was commenced in order to establish the benefit made from crime and where appropriate, cases were progressed through the Court system using the confiscation regimes set in place by POCA
AnuPrashar (Senior Prosecutor) drew members’ attention to examples of successful cases which included the following: Confiscation proceedings to recover the rental income made as a result of renting nine unauthorised self-contained dwellings from a single dwelling. This resulted in an order under POCA for £494,314.30 for which Brent Council received 37.5% amounting to £185,367.86.
In one Brent planning case a confiscation order was made against a property developer for £1,438,180.59 following the conversion of a property into 12 dwellings without planning permission. Following an Enforcement Notice in relation to the property which was ignored, a confiscation order was the subject of an appeal and was later reduced to £544,358.00 and resulted in Brent Council receiving 37.5% of this order, £204,134.25.
In July 2015 a confiscation order was made at Harrow Crown Court against a seller of counterfeit headphones for £43,642. The order has since been paid in full and Brent and Harrow Trading Standards received £16,365.75.
Simon Legg then highlighted the need for additional resources to be made available to the Trading Standards Service if it were to establish a proactive service which focused specifically on POCA investigations. He then referenced a quote from a supplier for a tool kit to carry out the mundane task of recording financial information such as bank account statements. The estimated cost was £5,150 for the first year including set up and training and then an annual licence fee of £4,115. He added that the availability of the tool kit would greatly enhance investigations and thus generate more income to the service. He recommended investing in such a system during the forthcoming financial year if the Service were to remain competitive and maintain its reputation as a leading authority in POCA investigation.
In welcoming the report, members endorsed the recommendation for the service to invest in a tool kit for recording mundane information at a cost of £5,150 and an annual licence fee of £4,115.
RESOLVED:-
That Brent and Harrow Trading Standards Service accept the quote from a supplier for a tool kit for recording mundane information at a cost of £5,150 and an annual licence fee of £4,115.
Supporting documents: