Financial investigators to hunt down North's 'gangsters'

More than 60 specialist financial investigators will be appointed to fight organised gangsters across the North, police said today.

The specialists can apply to the High Court to stop suspects selling property, land, cars or houses in a bid to bring high-rolling criminal lifestyles to an end.

A total of £100,000 (€148,000) seized from fraudsters will fund the initiative.

Detective Superintendent Roy McComb said: “With a financial investigator now embedded in every policing district organised criminals are being hunted right across the province.

“I am very confident that the work of the financial investigation unit will reap great rewards and we will be able to access criminals’ money to use it against other criminals.”

Mr McComb heads the Economic Crime Bureau within the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Last year the PSNI netted £580,000 (€862,000) from cash seizures and nearly £232,000 (€345,000) has been seized in 33 operations since April 2007.

During the 2006/07 period, police obtained 14 confiscation orders worth £1.5m (€2.2m).

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde will present the cheque for the appointments today.

Recently the PSNI Financial Investigation Unit obtained 27 restraint orders preventing suspects from selling off £11m (€16m) worth of the gains of crime.

The Unit also invested in a number of specially trained cash dogs that sniff out large amounts of illegal money- bought with confiscated cash.