Theresa May vows to create new criminal offence to tackle 'untouchable' crime lords

 
Pledge: Home Secretary Theresa May wants to crack down on crime lords
21 February 2014
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A new criminal offence of directing organised crime is to be introduced by ministers, as part of a wide-ranging drive to punish the “untouchables” of the criminal underworld.

It will allow police to charge gangland bosses on the basis that they are part of a group set up to make a criminal profit — even if it cannot be proved that they were directly involved in any other specific crime.

The new offence is a response to concerns that some of the country’s worst “Mr Bigs” are avoiding prosecution by “keeping their hands clean” while others carry out offences for them.

It will be modelled on existing Scottish powers that carry a 14-year sentence.

Confirming the new legislation, a senior Whitehall official said it would be among a range of measures to fight organised crime set to be implemented by Home Secretary Theresa May. It will be announced in the next Queen’s Speech.

“There will be a new offence of directing organised crime. It will target people who stand off and don’t get their hands dirty,” he said.

Other changes to be set out by Mrs May include longer “default” sentences for convicted crime bosses who fail to pay back their illicit profits.

New legislation will also seek to stop “tactical divorces”, and spurious “third party” claims — techniques used by jailed criminals to cut the amount of assets that they have to hand back.

Further moves will be made to speed up asset-freezing when criminals are arrested. Police training will be improved, as will coordination between police and other organisations such as HM Revenue and Customs, government departments, and councils.

New legal agreements and closer cooperation will be sought with Spain and the United Arab Emirates — two countries in which £200 million of British criminal assets are estimated to be held. There will be similar deals with West African governments and other nations such as Pakistan.

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Reports in the Evening Standard have highlighted the authorities’ lack of success in ensuring that Britain’s worst crime bosses pay back their illicit profits.

The problem was also exposed by the National Audit Office, which warned recently that more than 80 per cent of the £920 million owed by convicted millionaire criminals is yet to be repaid — even though some were first ordered to hand back the money as long ago as 1987.

The auditors’ report said that nearly £500 million more is owed by other offenders.

A Home Office assessment last year found that an estimated 5,500 organised crime gangs operate in this country, threatening national security and costing a total of £24 billion a year.

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