§ Mr. Terry Walkerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been convicted in each of the last five years for evading currency regulations; what proportion of these were British subjects; and what have been the annual sums involved.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 14th July 1978], gave the following information:
The table below gives the number of convictions, of both individuals and companies, for infringements of the Exchange Control Act 1947 and the approximate amounts involved. Information for the period prior to 1974 is not available nor is a record kept of the nationality of the offenders.
Number of convictions Approximate amounts involved £ 1974 71 1,281,000 1975 51 506,000 1976 87 1,662,000 1977 53 415,000 In addition, a large number of offences which are dealt with by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, e.g. currency smuggling, are settled without recourse to the courts by compounding and/or seizure.