Nearly £190,000 of criminal assets seized in just one day

Nearly £190,000 of criminal assets were seized in just one day thanks to the work of Merseyside Police’s Economic Crime Unit.

On Tuesday 16^th April forfeiture hearings at Liverpool City magistrates court ruled on a number of cases, involving a total of £187,425.58 in cash, which was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

They included:

• A forfeiture order for £64,945 - granted after cash was seized during a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant at a property in Liverpool city centre in February 2024.
  

• On 30 January 2024 officers executed a warrant at a property in Garston. During the search of the address large quantities of cash and Class A drugs were recovered.  The case was heard at court and the magistrates on hearing the evidence ordered the forfeiture of £38,210.

• A total of £18,555 was forfeited after being recovered from a property in Kirkby. Officers had seen a motorbike being driven erratically and failing to stop in February 2024. Checks were made on the registered owner and the cash, together with drugs were seized.

• On 10^th February 2024 a firearms warrant was executed at a house in Kensington. A search of the address resulted in a quantity of drugs and a large amount of cash being recovered. A forfeiture order for £17,277.23 was granted by the court.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Dalton said: “We know that even though the public are pleased when we put criminals behind bars they also feel justice is done when we seize the criminal assets that allow these people to fund a more extravagant lifestyle.

“Thanks to the painstaking work of our financial investigators a proportion of the money seized will be returned by the courts, through the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, to be invested back into community and crime prevention initiatives which are of benefit to all.

“In all of the above cases, as with the majority of our financial seizures, the individuals either did not attend the forfeiture hearing or did not contest the application.

“Merseyside Police pro-actively investigates serious organised crime including the ill-gotten gains of criminals and is relentless in its pursuit of offenders.

“If you have any information about money laundering or cash being stored in your community please contact police @MerPolCC, or call 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: Give information anonymously | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org).”