Targeting the assets and profits of Welsh criminals, the Wales Regional Asset Recovery Team has achieved significant results during its recent second full year of operations.

Head of Wales RART, DCI Steve Tooby and of South Wales Police said, " Proceeds of Crime legislation is hitting criminals where it hurts – in their pockets, not only are we removing criminals’ profits and recycling those funds into other crime reduction initiatives but we are also reducing the opportunities for them to finance further criminality"

Within the past year Wales RART investigators and their colleagues in the North West RART have successfully taken convicted Welsh drug traffickers, cigarette smugglers, DVD pirates and fraudsters back to the Courts where their profits from crime have been assessed and Confiscation Orders amounting to almost £5.5 million, equivalent to over £15,000 per day, have been made.

Examples of recent cases conducted by the RART include that of three West Wales men, Wolfgang Necke of Cross Hands, Colin Jenkins of Llanelli and Arthur Waring of Cardigan who were successfully prosecuted by Dyfed Powys Police, and convicted of drug trafficking at Swansea Crown Court last year. They were subject of a RART financial investigation, which resulted in Court orders amounting to over £242,000 being made.

At Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in January, Confiscation Orders and fines totalling £31,335 were imposed on Kevin Thomas, his son Kristan Thomas and a third Merthyr man, Benjamin Smith after they had been convicted of attempting to smuggle cigarettes into the country.

A similar sum was also ordered in Swansea Crown Court against John Anthony Thomas, a former police officer prosecuted and convicted by Dyfed Powys Police of mortgage fraud last year.

In another case, heard by Newport Crown Court, Deidre Sellars of Abergavenny, a former medical practice manager was convicted of theft from her employers was ordered to pay £86,776 and in April this year, following a prosecution brought by Swansea Trading Standards, David Jones of Cwmrhydyceirw, Swansea was convicted of counterfeiting DVDs and CDs for which he was given a 6 month suspended prison sentence. Had his case come before the Court prior to the creation of the RART that may have been the end of the matter however, examination of Jones’ financial situation by a financial investigator assessed his criminal benefit as £40,492 which the Court ordered to be paid within 3 months.

Alan Brown, Operational Team Leader at Wales RART said, " These and other results are not untypical and highlight the effectiveness of what is still relatively new legislation. A defendant, on being sent to prison, might once have been told that they, " are going to repay their debt to society" however these days, through the proactive use of Proceeds of Crime Confiscation legislation by all law enforcement agencies, what society might regard as a real debt, will be paid by offenders. The orders made by the Courts in these and other cases will not only remove the criminal’s gain but will also generate funds to be reinvested to tackle other crime."