Byron Buckley and Ross Sheil, Gleaner Reporters
DR. PETER PHILLIPS
IN THE United Kingdom (U.K.), a legislation similar to the Proceeds of Crime Act, which is currently before the Jamaican Parliament, has been reaping modest success for British law enforcement authorities since its enactment in 2002.
The U.K. legislation and the formation of the dedicated Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) was modelled closely on the Republic of Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), formed in 1996.
COMMON OFFENCES
Both agencies collaborate over the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Suspected fuel smuggling, evasion of excise duty and VAT (British equivalent of GCT) are common offences targeted by the ARA and CAB. Revenue from such activities have come to form important sources of income for Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries who have branched into organised crime.
In one recent ARA case, an alleged Loyalist paramilitary loan shark had assets with a value of £406,000 seized. These included motor vehicles: an Audi A4, a BMW 5 Series, a Toyota Rav4, a Mitsubishi Shogun and a Honda CBX motorcycle; and property: three plots of land and two buildings.
According to Northern Ireland minister Shaun Woodward, the ARA has disrupted or broken up 28 criminal organisations during 2005, in Northern Ireland alone; £12 million worth of assets was seized or frozen. As of the next financial year, the ARA will retain 50 per cent of what it recovers. The other 50 per cent will be spent elsewhere in crime fighting.
DEPRIVED OF ILL-GOTTEN GAIN
According to Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, the Proceeds of Crime Act is intended to deprive persons involved in criminal enterprise from enjoying their ill-gotten gain. Specifically, the act seeks to empower law enforcement agencies to confiscate property, which persons may have accrued as a result of their general criminal lifestyle, although the assets are not tied to a particular offence committed.
"The law enforcement agencies may have cogent evidence of the tainted origins of particular property, yet be unable to effect forfeiture proceedings because a criminal charge cannot be brought against a specific person," pointed out Dr. Phillips in the explanatory notes to the bill. "This," he continued "is especially true of criminal masterminds, who through a sophisticated network are often adept at insulating themselves against specific criminal charges," he explained.
The passage of the bill is being anticipated by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields, on secondment from the Metropolitan Police in the U.K., who now heads the crime portfolio. DCP Shields believes it is more effective to confiscate the loot of criminal bosses than attempt to arrest them on gun possession charges.
According to the British Assets Recovery Agency, hitting criminals in the pocket substantially reduces criminal activity. Figures on the agency's website claim £1 million confiscated from a drug dealer would prevent him from buying 50 kilos of heroin at wholesale prices.
Costs of heroin
Figures on the ARA website claim £1 million confiscated from a drug dealer would prevent him from buying 50 kilos of heroin at wholesale prices. Just one kilo of heroin distributed at street level could result in:
£220,000 worth of stolen property
220 victims of burglary
220 recorded crimes at a cost of £100 for each initial police response
£650 - cost to prosecute each burglar
1,078 addict crimes per month
