Funding for financial investigators
Tuesday, 03 January, 2012
Last month, Scot land's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill provided funding to three Scottish police forces, including Tayside, to allow their dedicated teams of financial investigators to continue tackling serious organised crime.
The announcement of £625,000 enables Tayside, Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders police forces to continue to bolster the capacity within their own teams of financial investigators, supporting 17 posts across the three forces, until 2014.
Each force first received funding from the Scottish Government in January 2010, at the outset of a two year pilot.
The Serious Organised Crime Strategy, which was published in June 2009, sets out under its Disrupt strand, a specific commitment to improve the seizure of assets from criminals and the
confiscation of their profits, by "using some of the money seized from criminals to boost financial investigations".
Last month's announcement continues to fulfil that obligation and also addresses one of the recommendations from the 2009 Joint Thematic Report on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Putting dedicated financial investigators in place has enabled the forces to conduct more financial investigations, collect more financial intelligence and put financial investigation at the heart of the culture and processes of police investigations into serious organised crime groups.
In the last financial year (2010-11), more than £25 million worth of proceeds of crime was recovered, which brings the total amount of money recovered since the legislation was introduced in 2003 to almost £60 million.
The vast majority of these resources are being reinvested through the CashBack for Communities scheme to benefit communities right across Scotland. Tayside Police Assistant
Chief Constable Angela Wilson, who is also ACPOS' Financial Crime Lead, and the force's team of financial investigators, said: "I'm delighted that the Scottish Government has agreed to fund these financial investigators posts for a further two years as they play an invaluable role in the fight against serious organized crime. I also take great satisfaction in seeing the redistribution of these confiscated assets to our communities through the Cashback for Communities scheme. I look forward to a further two years where we can maximize opportunities to take from the criminals to give to our communities."
