§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of reports made by accountants, solicitors and financial advisers to NCIS were(a)investigated and (b) led to confiscation, for the most recent convenient period. [53610]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) does not hold statistical information in the format requested. However, it does monitor whether financial disclosures it receives and forwards to law enforcement agencies are of value to those agencies. For the calendar year 2000, NCIS received 18,048 disclosures (in total). Which were all forwarded to law enforcement for action as necessary. (Only 0.42 per cent. and 1.35 per cent. were received in that year from accountants and solicitors respectively). To date NCIS has received feedback in 11,047 cases and in 9,082 (82 per cent.) of these replies the police force or law enforcement agency recorded that the reports had assisted law enforcement efforts.
Suspicious transaction reports may only form part of a wider investigation that ultimately leads to the arrest and conviction of individuals and the confiscation of assets. Such reports can provide new information and intelligence 322W that may substantially move an investigation forward as well as providing an invaluable insight into the presence or whereabouts of assets for later confiscation. On occasions they may also simply provide confirmation of information already known to the investigators.