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Over £1B seized by HMRC Fraud Squad

In excess of £1 billion has been recovered from the proceeds of crime and tax offenders since the launch of a dedicated HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fraud squad some five years ago.

Launched in the April of 2016, the department’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) has recovered a staggering sum of money. Assets equal to funding some 20,000 NHS nurses for a full year.

FIS has been actively and diligently following the suspected proceeds of criminal enterprises by employing combined civil and criminal enforcement powers, to block the movement of cash and assets. 

Since 2016, in excess 1,200 seizures of cash and assets were made, including seizing gold bars worth £750,000 from a passenger at Manchester Airport.

They also report the discovery of £48,000 in a freezer drawer, hidden amidst chicken nuggets and other frozen foods at a home in Blackpool, Lancashire.

Simon York, who is the HMRC’s Director of Fraud Investigation Service, said: "To reach this £1 billion milestone in five years speaks volumes about the dedication, hard work and skills of the FIS and our staff to recover the proceeds of crime from those who are attempting to cheat the system.

"Be they cash seizures, confiscation orders or orders to freeze bank accounts, recovering these assets will stop criminals funding their lavish lifestyles and also funding further crimes that harm our communities, like drugs, guns and human trafficking. 

"Vitally, this money is returned to the public purse, helping fund our important services like schools and hospitals."

Simon went on to explain: "HMRC employs the latest cutting-edge technologies and techniques to investigate sudden, unexplained wealth and uncover hidden assets. 

"Just in 2021 we recouped over £218 million from the proceeds of crime.

"HMEC is dedicated to recovering criminal assets and today the message is surely clear. Crime doesn’t pay.

Amongst the wide and varied confiscations and seizures made are: 

£750,000 of gold bars hidden in a lunchbox at Manchester Airport. These gold bars were sent to public auction and the money realised sent back into the public purse

A payroll fraudster had a £1.7 million confiscation order imposed on him. He had to cough this money up or face having his nine-and-a-half year sentence increased to twelve-and-a-half years.

A Safety deposit box in the city of Birmingham was opened and the £180,000 cash found in it was seized. HMRC explained that this money was a par of a £194,280 tax fraud.

And over £840,000 in cash was seized at a garage of a home in Sydenham, south-east London, after the FIS helped dismantle a gang responsible for a £9.5 million tobacco fraud.

They also reveal that the £48,000 found in a home freezer drawer in Blackpool, was also as part of a £16 million tobacco fraud, this one being worth an estimated £16 million. 

A nan with convictions for fraudulent activity won £99,030 in poker games was ordered in 20018 and 2019 to pay this money to the government to satisfy an outstanding confiscation order that was made against him.

The 2016 creation of the FIS in 2016 combined two specialist teams, the HMRC’s criminal and civil investigators. It's believed that this was a world first for tax enforcement. 

A spokesman explained: "This partnership allows HMRC’s investigators to unlock even the most complex financial crimes.

"Criminal cash is seized by HMRC officers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. If the courts are satisfied that cash is the proceeds of a crime, or was going to be used to fund a crime, they can order a forfeiture. In cases that aren't contested cases, the HMRC can administratively order forfeiture of the cash."