POLICE forces have recouped more than £8.6m in ill-gotten gains from the region’s criminals in the past three years, figures show.

The money was seized from the likes of drug dealers, peopletraffickers and fraudsters.

Using Proceeds of Crime Act powers, detectives can pursue convicts for the rest of their lives for all money earned through crime.

Figures obtained by The Northern Echo under the Freedom of Information Act show that the region’s four forces collected £8,629,251 in the past three financial years.

Detective Inspector Geoff Smith, the head of Durham Police’s economic crime unit, said: “If criminals fail to pay up, they go to prison, and they still have to find the money when they get out.”

The North-East’s largest force, Northumbria, collected the most – £4,165,721.

North Yorkshire Police retrieved £1,891,683, while Durham Police seized £1,595,847 and Cleveland Police £976,000.

The figures cover from April 2006 to the end of March last year.

Half of the money goes to the Home Office, while the rest is divided between the force that collected it, the Courts Service and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The police use a portion to fund further investigation into economic crime. Funding for local community facilities can also be provided.

Before the legislation was introduced in 2002, criminals who amassed large sums of money illegally were free to enjoy the profits of their crimes once they were released from jail.

Det Insp Smith said: “It was frustrating to watch criminals retrieve their ill-gotten gains, but the sentence was prison and nothing else back then.

“It was a significant change to the law and only right and proper that it happened.

“Now, if the person has a £300,000 house, they have to show us how they paid for it. If they claim they had a big win on the horses, they have to show us the betting slips.

“Otherwise we make the assumption that the money has come from crime.

“They have to do whatever it takes to pay that money back, even if that means selling their cars or their house.

“If they claim not to have the money any more, we can revisit it at any point in the future, so if they win the Lottery or inherit a lot of money years down the line, we can take it.”

The powers were used in June last year when Durham University bursar Christine Starkey was ordered to repay £179,462 after stealing £488,281 from her employers.

Among the recent beneficiaries from the process was Butterwick Hospice, in Bishop Auckland, which was given £4,000 for CCTV cameras.