A North East police force has seized $63,000 from a suspected money mule as part of a crackdown on organised crime and scams. 

Officers from Northumbria Police received intel that suggested suspicious activity on the suspected mule's account, which kicked off a money laundering investigation.

Enquiries revealed the cash had been paid into an account belonging to a bogus cleaning company in one lump sum – with the account holder unable to justify its origins or legitimacy. 

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Suspecting the funds were obtained in a series of telephone and banking scams – the account was frozen, and the case was presented before Newcastle Magistrate's Court. 

The court agreed the funds should be seized under the  Proceeds of Crime legislation, and granted a forfeiture order totalling $63,000.

When police spoke to the 40-year-old account holder, he claimed his details had been stolen and another person was in control of the account.

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Following the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Chris Riley from the Force’s Crime department, praised the tenacity of his financial investigators.

He said: “This is an excellent example of how we disrupt organised crime. Fraud is a high-harm offence which can leave victims ashamed, embarrassed and doubting their own judgement – and their life-savings and hard-earned cash can often be used to fund further crime.

“Investigators carried out a full and thorough search into the origins of this money. They were not able to identify or trace a victim and suspect the payment came from another fraudster, using this account to try and ‘mule’ money and hide its original origin.

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“This can be standard practice in these types of offences, as criminals try to cover up their tracks.

“Anyone who benefits from money obtained in this callous way should expect to be identified and dealt with robustly. We will continue to do this as part of Operation Sentinel and will use every tool at our disposal to identify, freeze and seize unlawfully obtained funds.”

Following a 30-day appeal period, the cash will be converted into pounds and paid to Northumbria Police. The force will then submit the funds to the Home Office so they can be invested into the continued fight against organised crime and community funds.