When crime pays, some people will commit crime. Very few people actually make a living out of crime, but those that do factor in that they might be arrested, might be prosecuted, might even go to jail. It is an occupational hazard and they take a risk based approach to it. If you work in criminal justice, compliance or something similar you understand what a risk-based approach means. It just means that you rationally try to get money whilst not getting caught. Getting caught might be disastrous, but very often (especially if it has happened to you before), you know that the problem is normally short lived. You might get bail, you might not be charged at all, even if prosecuted you might be found ‘not guilty’, if found guilty you might not be jailed. All of these options allow you to keep making money from crime and none of them mean you will lose the money you have already made. Even jail may not stop the dirty money machine. Criminals can and do direct their criminal enterprises from inside prison.
The result is that the rest of us have to live in a lawless world, where too much crime happens.
Asset recovery is the antidote to a lawless world. It is the term we use to describe a financial investigation that results in the confiscation of the proceeds of crime by a criminal court.
Most people assume that being prosecuted automatically results in the confiscation of the money made from crime. They are wrong. Conversely, people with a little more knowledge of the criminal justice system assume that confiscation hardly ever happens and crime pays pretty much all of the time. They are wrong too. The truth is somewhere in between. It varies dramatically from country to country. About 80% of countries do next to zero asset recovery (I have written about why this in the War on Dirty Money, Chapter 14).
In the UK, since 2003, asset recovery is pretty commonplace, but not so routine as to be an absolute deterrent. In the podcast that follows I get quizzed for 40 minutes about how it works, how we could do better and why the British experience is of global significance.
OK, it was not really an interrogation, more of a fireside chat. People say that our voices are nice to listen to, so why not put on the headphones and do a bit of gardening, or DIY, or just go for a nice walk? If something doesn’t quite add up, leave a comment. If you think someone you know might like to hear it too, why not share this post?
Here is the link to the podcast
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.