Longer prison terms for 'Mr Bigs' who don’t pay back crime profits, promises Theresa May

 
Dawn raid: National Crime Agency officers in action in Bromley today
EDITORS NOTE: FACES PIXELATED BY THE PA PICTUREDESK AT THE REQUEST OF THE NCA: Officers from the newly formed National Crime Agency take part in a dawn raid on a property in Wanstead Road, Bromley, Kent. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday Octo
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Organised crime bosses who fail to repay their illegal gains will be kept behind bars for years longer as part of a sweeping overhaul of the law on “Mr Bigs” announced today by Theresa May.

The Home Secretary said she would be “substantially strengthening the prison sentences” for criminals with unpaid court orders in response to concern that many are refusing to return their illicit profits.

Mrs May also announced new powers to stop crime bosses using “dodgy divorces” to hold onto their wealth as part of a sweeping overhaul of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which will also see offenders given less time to repay their illegal gains and the introduction of new powers that will allow assets such as cars and homes to be sold without the criminals’ consent.

The Home Secretary’s announcement, which follows a series of revelations by the Evening Standard about the way in which criminal “Mr Bigs” are holding on to their cash, came as she unveiled the Government’s new National Crime Agency — Britain’s equivalent of the FBI.

Its 4,500 officers will target an estimated 5,500 organised crime gangs — 1,400 of which are said to be involved in economic crime — in a bid to reduce the “corrosive” impact of their offences on London and other parts of the country most affected.

A strategy document published today by Mrs May says the gangs are responsible for drug and human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, cyber offending, fraud and other types of crime and promises to use a counter- terrorism style approach to tackle the problem.

It adds: “Organised crime is a threat to national security. It costs the United Kingdom at least £24 billion each year, leads to loss of life and can deprive people of their security and prosperity.”

Announcing the changes today, the Home Secretary said: “Anyone involved in any form of organised crime should hear a very clear message: we will do everything at our disposal to disrupt and prosecute them.”

Further sections of today’s strategy list warn of crime threats to the UK ranging from the shipment of firearms from the Balkans to South African crime groups and drug running from India.

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