Today's episode highlights the work of one clever con-woman, Claire Miller. She conned an estimated 17,000 men into parting with money to join an escort agency she claimed to have set up. Police decided to seize her large collection of shoes and handbags and sell them all off at a Proceeds of Crime auction. The programme also looks at the case of love rat Matthew Samuels, who conned five women out of their savings whilst pretending to be interested in romancing them. A Proceeds of Crime investigation by West Murcia Police discovered that he spent the money he had conned on buying expensive cars, and subsequently they were all auctioned off and the proceeds given back to his victims. We also see how Chesterfield Canal Trust has benefitted from criminals' money. They had already received funding to regenerate their local canal and now have a new boat which is available for pleasure trips and is a positive use of money seized back from criminals.
In today's episode two heavyweight drug dealers are forced to part with their high value assets. We also discover how financial investigators catch one of the UK's biggest fraudsters for failing to pay HMRC the tax they were due. We also see how the Police can seize anything they believe has been bought with Ill Gotten Gains, even the paintings off the walls of a house - as a drug dealer has works of art removed from his property and sold at auction to raise money for the public purse. We also watch as a Proceeds of Crime order helps bring down a local rogue trader and money is returned to the victims, and how a local community project in Wales was saved from being shut down by funds raised through Proceeds of Crime.
Elite officers from the West Midlands Asset Recovery team raid the home of a man whom they suspect has been involved in mortgage fraud. We also watch how a fraudster, who was living in a mansion and hiding a cannabis farm in a secret den behind a false wall, has his proceeds of crime seized and valued for auction. A boat that was involved in smuggling illegal immigrants is auctioned off at a Proceeds of Crime sale, and a man is jailed for fraud after selling fake car insurance to more than 600 unsuspecting victims. Today's programme also visits Lylac Ridge farm in Wales, which helps disadvantaged children and adults and has benefitted from funding through Proceeds of Crime.
Another boat goes up for auction but this time it's the Albernina, which was used to traffic a deadly cargo of automatic weapons into the UK. The National Crime Agency had a tip off from Kent Police that a local crime gang were acting suspiciously. Covert officers immediately began a surveillance operation, but little did they know that right in front of their eyes the crime gang would audaciously attempt to sail £100,000 worth of guns imported from Eastern Europe into UK waters. Later we watch as Kirk Claus, one of the UK's biggest second-hand dodgy car dealers, gets his final comeuppance as he is ordered to pay back £6 million he cheated out of customers by selling faulty cars. One of his victims talks about their ordeal and we also see how proceeds of crime has helped fund a Manchester youth club.
We watch as the story of one of Britain's largest ever drug trafficking seizure unfolds. Golem, a family yacht, was swooped on in Dover by the Border Force, and two men arrested as cocaine with an estimated street value of £120 million was found stashed aboard. The National Crime Agency charged and convicted the men, who were later sentenced to more than 34 years, and we watch as the boat is sold under the hammer for £96,000 at a Proceeds of Crime auction. Today's episode also follows a live raid with South Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit as they arrest a drug king pin and seize his high-value assets. But Proceeds of Crime isn't just about drug dealers and trafficking - it also combats white collar crime. We follow the case of Dean Ahmed, who tried to get away with a massive benefit fraud.
