The Solicitor General , Lesley Thomson QC has announced that more than £10.5 million has been recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) in the past year.
This brings the total sums recovered under POCA, since its commencement in 2003, to over £69 million .
Of the £10.5 million recovered, over £7 million was derived from confiscation orders secured by prosecutors against convicted drug dealers, money launderers and fraudsters, advise COPFS. The remaining sums, over £3.5million, were proceeds of crime recovered through the civil courts, by the Civil Recovery Unit, and in relation to which there was no criminal conviction.
The money has been put to the Scottish Consolidated Fund to be reinvested in Scottish communities via the CashBack for Communities programme.
"The Proceeds of Crime Act is a powerful tool in our armoury in the fight against crime in Scotland,” said Lindsey Miller Head of the Serious and Organised Crime Division and the COPFS POCA Champion. “We continue to make maximum use of the legislation to deprive criminals of money and assets.”