In a complex investigation, skilled financial officers navigated an intricate network of local and overseas bank accounts to trace money in an investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate which led to the forfeiture of more than £115,000.
Further investigation found that the foreign national who held the bank account had used fraudulent documentation to open it.
Over the course of two years, the account saw long periods where it wasn’t used before the funds from outside the UK were moved in and out. Once deposited, these funds would be directed back out of the UK with £115,000 being intercepted and frozen.
Following this discovery, an application for the money to be forfeited on the grounds that it was likely to have been obtained through unlawful conduct, resulted in a hearing at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 8th May 2024 at which the application was granted.
Detective Inspector David Godfrey, of the Economic Crime Unit, said:
‘Our financial investigators work hard to ensure that unlawful profits are repaid under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
‘During the course of this investigation it was clear that there was no verifiable evidence of a legitimate reason for how the money came to be in the located bank account.
‘We will continue to use the powers available to us to reinforce the important that crime does not pay.’