Asset Confiscation Enforcement Team
The Asset Confiscation and Enforcement (ACE) team supports forces and agencies in the South West with all matters relating to confiscations and an emphasis on asset recovery.
ACE has two main workstreams – the enforcement of confiscation orders, and the reconsideration of original confiscation orders under Section 22 of POCA.
Enforcement of confiscation orders
The ACE team:
- will support those who carry out and obtain confiscations as part of their prosecution regime
- will support at any part of the confiscation process, whether that be before or after the confiscation order being made
- will liaise with offenders on your behalf to ensure consents are signed and assets, where necessary, are sold
- has a specialist enforcement or prisons investigator who will arrange, coordinate and carry out prison visits
- has a good working relationship with auctioneer providers and manage the sale of assets and the payment of the orders using these funds on behalf of partners
- works closely with and supports HM Courts and Tribunals Service at enforcement court
Example: £70k handed out in compensation after 16 years
A Bristol City Council parking meter repairer stole more than £70,000 between 2002 and 2008, after he had found a way to jam the machines himself which allowed him to remove cash without it registering.
In 2023, the ACE team obtained intelligence that Arthur Blay was due to receive an inheritance.
Along with the CPS, the ACE team obtained a restraint order on the funds and then engaged with Blay and his legal team.
After discussion, Blay agreed that part of his inheritance could be used to pay off his confiscation order and the funds could be repaid to Bristol City Council in compensation.
Blay’s consent meant the cost to the public purse was reduced, as court hearings were not required and that the money could be returned to the victim.
Bristol City Council have since received around £70,000 back in compensation.
If you need the ACE team to support the enforcement of a confiscation order, fill in the Enforcing a Confiscation Order form.
Reconsideration of original confiscation orders
The team specialises in reconsideration investigations to increase the confiscation order when new assets are identified (S.22 POCA 02).
This allows an application to be made to the court when new assets for the defendant are identified. It can be done years after the original order and there is no corresponding prosecution of the defendant.
The ACE team are happy to take referrals from the region if you have any cases, such as lottery wins, inheritance, evidence of expensive watches etc, where either:
- assets are identified as part of an investigation that does not reach the prosecution phase
- the charges are not suitable for further confiscation
Example: Depriving a fraudster of their assets
Cheshire Police asked if the ACE team would carry out a S.22 when the trial of a fraudster they were prosecuting broke down.
Tanya Rowe had been charged with defrauding an elderly male of £70,000 after she falsely claimed to:
- be someone of significant wealth
- be employed by the high-end jewellers Cartier
- have had breast cancer
During the investigation, Rowe was arrested and her property searched. As a result, over £10,000 was restrained in a bank account and several pieces of expensive jewellery and designer goods were seized.
The trial broke down when the jury found Rowe guilty of counterfeiting payslips, which purported her working for Cartier.
However, the jury failed to reach a verdict on the wider fraud and, as the vulnerable victim did not feel able to go through a second trial, the case was discontinued.
Despite being discontinued, police still had in their possession numerous assets belonging to Rowe, who they knew had a previous confiscation in the South West.
The original case was very similar.
Rowe – known at the time as Ryley Cruz – stated at times she was a barrister, a judge, and sometimes a glamour model. She even appeared in a national women’s magazine falsely claiming to be a cancer survivor.
In total, Rowe was convicted of 14 offences of fraud and a confiscation order was made with a criminal benefit of £61,053 – but only a nominal order of £1 was made as she had no identifiable assets at the time of the order.
The ACE team adopted this case and immediately obtained a restraint order over all the assets and then applied to Crown Court for a S.22 Reconsideration of Confiscation Order to be made.
The order was made with consent of the defendant and the original confiscation order was increased by £13,300.
In this case, Cruz refused to allow the money to go back to the original victims in compensation. However, it remains that she was permanently deprived of assets that she had obtained through fraud.
Voluntary Victim Reparation Scheme
The ACE team can use this scheme to try and get compensation paid to the victims of the original crime from the assets realised in the reconsideration.
If you want to refer cases to the ACE team, fill in the Referral for Reconsideration (S.22) form.
Contact the ACE team
If you would like to discuss a job to see if the ACE team can help you, you can make contact:
- by email — swrocuace@avonandsomerset.police.uk
- on Teams — Book a meeting with the ACE team manager