Money Laundering Reports Given Low Priority In The UK, Review Reveals

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

22 November 2004

A review of compliance with the UK's 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) has revealed that suspicious activity reports (SARs) provided by financial services and other institutions are often afforded a low priority by the police force, which initially assesses them.

Officers interviewed for the survey, which was conducted by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, Crown Prosecution Service and Magistrates Court Service, pointed to the sheer volume of reports generated by the reporting requirement, and suggested that the majority have "little obvious investigative merit".

Writing earlier this month, Dr. Stella Dixon, HM Chief Inspector of the Magistrates Court Service, Stephen Wooler, HM Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service and Sir Keith Povey, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary confirmed that:

"While a number of high profile cases have proven the value of the new powers, as heads of criminal justice inspectorates, we were disappointed to find that, by early 2004, use of the powers appeared patchy and evidence of co-ordinated prioritisation of asset recovery across the criminal justice partners was scarce. The joint review was launched to assess the reasons for the poor take-up of the POCA powers and to give renewed momentum to asset recovery."

The officials went on to suggest that many opportunities for asset recovery are being routinely missed, drawing attention to a widespread lack of awareness amongst practitioners of the powers, and suggesting that strategic leaders need to take a personal role in championing the cause and integrating the use of these powers into mainstream agency business.

"Increased incentivisation and the existence of this Review have already contributed to enhanced chief officer engagement but sustainable success will require a greater degree of collaborative working across criminal justice agencies," they observed.

The inspectors went on to urge the National Criminal Intelligence Service (to which the suspicious activity reports deemed to point to money laundering activity are passed) to issue guidance to police forces regarding the most effective way of assessing and utilising the information contained within the reports.

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