£250,000 'Criminal Cash' Recovered In Kent

A quarter of a million pounds of 'criminal money' has been recovered by officers from the UK Border Agency following two incidents at Kent ports.

On Thursday 28 October, Dover Magistrates' Court ordered that money seized from individuals this summer should be permanently forfeited.

On 20 July, two British men of Albanian origin, and resident in Kent, were stopped by UK Border Agency officers at the outward controls in Dover's Eastern docks. During a search of the vehicle they were travelling in, 11 packages of cling-film wrapped bank notes were found hidden under the passenger footwell. The amount discovered was approximately £200,000, made up of 200 and 500 euro notes.

Both men denied knowing anything about the money and decided not to contest the cash seizure, made using the Proceeds of Crime Act, at Thursday's court hearing.

A smaller sum of £50,000 was detained on 3 June at the Channel Tunnel outward controls in Cheriton when officers stopped a man and woman of Lithuanian nationality. Again, the couple chose not to contest the seizure and the money was permanently forfeited at the Magistrates' Court hearing.

Malcolm Bragg, Assistant Director of Criminal and Financial Investigation for the UK Border Agency said: "The Proceeds of Crime Act was specifically designed to prevent criminals holding on to the money they made from their crimes.

"The UK Border Agency is determined to apply this legislation wherever possible to send a clear message to criminals and fraudsters that crime doesn't pay.

"The money we seized in these two incidents will now be returned to the public purse and used, in part, to investigate other crimes.

"Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling should call our Hotline 0800 59 5000."

Anyone entering or leaving the UK with more than £1,000 in cash may be asked to provide evidence for the source and intended use of the money or face having it detained. This is to prevent the money made from criminality being hidden in bank accounts or other assets overseas, and to prevent the theft of money from the public purse through unpaid tax.

Earlier this year, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) announced that the 500 euro note would no longer be available over the counter in the UK after evidence showed over 90 percent of UK demand was linked to criminality.