Northern Ireland

Powers to strip criminal kingpins of wealth 'by end of 2020'

A joint 2017 PSNI and HMRC search of one criminal's property yielded £65,500 of cash, a Range Rover and a TAG Heuer watch purchased as a result of criminality
A joint 2017 PSNI and HMRC search of one criminal's property yielded £65,500 of cash, a Range Rover and a TAG Heuer watch purchased as a result of criminality A joint 2017 PSNI and HMRC search of one criminal's property yielded £65,500 of cash, a Range Rover and a TAG Heuer watch purchased as a result of criminality

CRIMINAL kingpins are set to be stripped of their riches with the introduction of new powers to recover proceeds of crime in Northern Ireland by the end of the year, a senior justice official has confirmed.

A range of provisions of the Criminal Finances Act 2017, which have already been enacted in England, Wales and Scotland, will see police and courts given enhanced powers in proceeds of crime, money laundering and civil recovery - allowing money to be seized from bank accounts and "mobile stores of value".

The most high-profile are the McMafia-style `dirty money' Unexplained Wealth Orders, and the Justice Committee has heard they will be in place in coming months.

Deputy director in the protection and organised crime division of the Department of Justice, Cathy Galway told the committee the provisions "amend and add to the powers" of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

More than £1.3m of assets has been seized from major Northern Ireland criminals under the act in the last year alone, including homes linked to loyalists and dissident republicans sold off and proceeds donated to good causes.

Over six years confiscation orders have led to the recovery of £6.3m from criminals under the Act.

"This strengthens the existing provisions with the Proceeds of Crime Act to ensure that law enforcement agencies and authorities have effective legal powers to deal with the threat posed by serious organised crime, and to ensure that its application in Northern Ireland is consistent with its application in the rest of the UK," she said.

"Disrupting and preventing those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime or corruption is a key objective of government and the justice minister has said that commencing the provisions of the Criminal Finances Act in Northern Ireland is one of her key priorities."

Guidance will be drawn up and scrutinised by the justice committee after the summer recess.

A UWO forces a person to provide a detailed account of how they obtained cash, property or goods and does not require any criminal charges to be filed.

They can be issued against items valued at more than £50,000 - including bank accounts, property, vehicles, jewellery, art and even vouchers - if the owner is considered "politically exposed" or alleged to have been involved in serious crime.

Courts can issue freeze orders preventing property from being sold or transferred ahead of a UWO and items held outside the jurisdiction can also be seized.

The items seized do not have to be in the name of a criminal, but can belong to associates.

The UK's first UWO was issued against Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of a banker jailed for defrauding Azerbaijan’s national bank out of hundreds of millions, who spent £16m in Harrods.