§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many investigations have taken place on suspicion of fraud and terrorism offences into businesses owned or operated by Muslims in each of the past five years; how many have involved raids on premises; and how many arrests, prosecutions and convictions have taken place as a result. [HL1378]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)This information is not collected centrally.
Fraud: Home Office databases do not contain information on the religion of persons investigated, arrested, proceeded against or convicted for fraud.
Terrorism: No statistics are available for the number of investigations that have taken place in connection with terrorist offences into businesses owned or operated by Muslims, nor how many have involved raids on premises, nor how many arrests, prosecutions and convictions have taken place as a result.
The provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 are aimed solely at terrorists and their supporters. They are not targeted at the Muslim community, the overwhelming majority of which is peaceful, law-abiding and makes a valuable contribution to our society.