Sections 327, 328, 329 and 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 create provisions to deal with offences of money laundering. The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions and convictions under POCA where money laundering is the principal offence. There is no legal definition or specific criminal offence of \u201chigh end\u201d money laundering. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of defendants prosecuted for, and convicted of these offences. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.<\/p>
<\/p>
CPS holds limited information on the number of offences which were charged and which reached a first hearing in the Magistrates Court. This does not equate to the number of defendants charged as single defendant may be charged with more than one offence. The figures for the period since 2014 are provided in the table below.<\/p>
<\/p><\/td> | 2015-2016<\/p><\/td> | 2016-2017<\/p><\/td> | 2017-2018<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
Sections 327 to 330 - Proceeds of Crime Act 2002<\/p><\/td> | 4,542<\/p><\/td> | 4,866<\/p><\/td> | 4,813<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/p> The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has prosecuted four individuals for money laundering offences since 2014. Two of these prosecutions resulted in a successful conviction in 2018. One of the two people who was prosecuted but acquitted was a qualified accountant.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4106", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Swindon"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Robert Buckland"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-28T09:48:33.693Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Money Laundering: Convictions and Prosecutions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, how many accountants have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for high-end money laundering by the (i) Serious Fraud Office and (ii) Crown Prosecution Service in each year since 2014.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4125", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Catherine McKinnell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle upon Tyne North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Catherine McKinnell"} ], "uin" : "195059"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/46761", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/46761/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " <\/p> A response to right hon Member's letter of 7 February 2014, with regard to Mr J Rossi-Stephenson, was sent on the 3 April 2014.<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> Copies of the response will be made available in the House library.<\/p> <\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1504", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dan Rogerson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Cornwall"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dan Rogerson"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/46761/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "2572 - letter.pdf"} , "title" : "Letter to Sir Gerald Kaufman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-04-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-04-09T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-04-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 7 February 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regards to Mr J Rossi-Stephenson.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/451", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Gerald Kaufman"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Manchester, Gorton"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Sir Gerald Kaufman"} ], "uin" : "195059"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} } |