Government’s £125million Criminal Assets

WHO says crime doesn’t pay?

What with the luxury mansions, limited-edition Bentleys, wads of cash and the jet-set lifestyle, surely there must be something in the whole crime lark? Just ask the big banks.

However, a number of the nation’s criminals are having to go without the trimmings of their success after the Home Office released details of the £125 million in seizures it has made in the last year, including mansions, cars and even racehorses.

Conveniently, that figure matches the target set out by the Government for 2006/07 and paves the way for the Home Office to announce even greater powers to confiscate criminals’ ill-gotten gains.

Jeremy Outen of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit is pleased with the results but is eager to achieve more. Says he: “But I think we have a long way to go. Asset seizure is not yet at the heart of law enforcement. It is still more of an afterthought in many forces. Obtaining money is the motive behind three-quarters of offences in the UK, so targeting criminal wealth could have a much greater effect. But this is good start.”

So if you see a humble Bobby living large and racing around the streets in a souped-up Lamborghini with a racehorse in the back seat, you’ll know here he got it from.
Michael Jackson isn’t short of a bob or two, but the bizarre self-proclaimed ‘king of pop’ has put his comeback Las Vegas shows in doubt after demanding to be paid £100 million. He’s bad.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, May 2007 | In: Money Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink