§ Jim DowdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value of assets seized by the Metropolitan Police under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 has been in 2003. [142979]
§ Caroline FlintThe total amount of cash seized by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) under new powers in the Act which came into effect on 30 December 2002 is £7,237,530. Cash seizures are subject to forfeiture proceedings in the magistrates' courts. The value of cash forfeited by the MPS under the new powers in the Act is £602,195.
The confiscation powers in the Act, which are dependent on securing a conviction, are triggered by offences committed after the provisions were brought 621W into force on 24 March 2003. It will, therefore, be some time before such cases are dealt with by the Crown Court in numbers.