§ 39. Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Serious Fraud Office is taking to counter money laundering. [155717]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Serious Fraud Office investigates and prosecutes cases of serious and complex fraud. It will investigate allegations of money laundering where the activities alleged involve or are involved in offences of serious or complex crime.
The range of offences that can lead to money laundering is wide and varied and includes drugs offences, robbery, theft and tax evasion as well as fraud. As a result, the Serious Fraud Office works in partnership with other prosecuting agencies such as the police, Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue as well as the Financial Services Authority, both to prevent and to prosecute money laundering offences.
Following conviction, the Serious Fraud Office seeks confiscation orders, in addition to the other sentences available to judges, wherever possible, to send a strong deterrent message to would-be offenders both in this country and abroad.