The Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Organised Crime Branch has followed in the footsteps of other Law Enforcement Partners by using, for the first time, an Account Freezing Order obtained under the Proceeds of Crime Act to forfeit just under £7,000 worth of funds which they were satisfied represented the proceeds of crime in an investigation into Money Laundering offences.
Detective Sergeant Loreen Glenn said: “Criminals need to launder the proceeds of their crimes to carry on their criminal activity and as an organisation we need to ensure that we are able to respond to that threat.
"Account Freezing Orders are a powerful tool which allow us to take quick and effective action against illicit funds held in bank accounts by criminals who abuse the banking system to store and transfer the proceeds of their crime.
“Half of this money forfeited will eventually go towards the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme and will be reinvested for community initiatives as well as funding policing programmes to continue fighting crime.
"The PSNI are committed to ensuring that criminals do not reap any form of reward from their criminality and so I would appeal for information from the public about anyone they suspect to be living a criminally-funded lifestyle and have hidden assets so we can deprive them of their cash and use it for a better purpose.”