Officers have seized $63,000 from the account of a suspected money mule.
An investigation into money laundering was carried out after intelligence was received by officers in August last year, which suggested there had been suspicious activity on the account. Enquiries revealed the cash had been paid into an account belonging to a bogus cleaning company in one lump sum – with the account holder unable to justify its origins or legitimacy.
When police spoke to the 40-year-old account holder, he claimed his details had been stolen and another person was in control of the account.
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Suspecting the funds were obtained in a series of telephone and banking scams – the account was frozen, and the case was presented before a court.
Financial investigators from Northumbria Police attended Newcastle Magistrates’ Court to make an application to seize the frozen assets under Proceeds of Crime legislation. The court agreed the funds should be seized and granted a forfeiture order totalling $63,000.
Following a 30-day appeal period, the cash will be converted into pounds and paid to Northumbria Police who will submit the funds to the Home Office so they can be invested into the continued fight against organised crime and community funds.
Following the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Chris Riley from the force’s Crime department, praised the tenacity of his financial investigators.
He said: “This is an excellent example of how we disrupt organised crime. Fraud is a high-harm offence that can leave victims ashamed, embarrassed, and doubting their own judgement. Their life savings and hard-earned cash can often be used to fund further crime.
“Investigators carried out a full and thorough search into the origins of this money. They were not able to identify or trace a victim and suspect the payment came from another fraudster, using this account to try and ‘mule’ money and hide its original origin.
“This can be standard practice in these types of offences, as criminals try to cover up their tracks.
“Anyone who benefits from money obtained in this callous way should expect to be identified and dealt with robustly. We will continue to do this as part of Operation Sentinel and will use every tool at our disposal to identify, freeze and seize unlawfully obtained funds.”
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