Pubdate: Sun, 26 Dec 2004
Source: Scotland On Sunday (UK)
Copyright: 2004 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/405
Author: Kate Foster, Home Affairs Correspondent

NUMBER'S UP FOR MR BIGS AS MEN IN GREY ENSURE CRIME DOESN'T PAY

PERHAPS they could bore gangsters into confessing. Scotland's elite 
crime-fighting agency is to deploy an unusual new weapon in its war on 
organised crime: the accountant.

The Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) is to employ a crack team of 
accountants to work alongside its squad of hardened, streetwise detectives 
in the battle against the nation's Mr Bigs.

The agency believes accountants - despite their popular association with 
grey suits and low social skills - can improve conviction rates by doggedly 
following the paper trail most major criminals leave behind them.

At present, this work is bcontracted out' to independent experts and the 
SDEA believes an in-house team can achieve more in less time while saving 
money.

The SDEA is expanding its remit from drug trafficking to all forms of 
organised crime and is to employ experts in a range of areas to help.

Organised crime in Scotland generates B#1bn a year and criminals launder 
their profits through operations such as pubs, scrapyards, taxi businesses 
and sunbed parlours.

Graeme Pearson, head of the SDEA, says forensic accountants - experts in 
spotting crime hidden among paperwork - should be on the payroll. Forensic 
accountants are currently hired out to the SDEA from big accountancy firms. 
They can command salaries of UKP60,000 upwards, but when hired out they 
effectively become consultants and their fees can amount to 10 times their 
ordinary wages.

Pearson said: "Forensic accountants can examine paper transactions of 
businesses and first of all evaluate whether they are legitimate, analyse 
whether the businesses are hanging together properly or whether there is 
something wrong. In this way we can investigate money laundering or whether 
fictitious accounts are being used to hide illegal activity.

"We have in the past hired in this help as and when we needed it, but this 
can be difficult. Parachuting people in means it can be difficult to brief 
them in the time scales we have. If we employ these experts they become 
part of the operation and they can advise us as we go along."

Tom McMorrow, executive director of regulation and compliance at the 
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, said yesterday he welcomed 
the development.

"We are very keen to help the police on an informal or formal level. When 
you are dealing with cases of money laundering the rule is to follow the 
money," he said. "There are all sorts of devices criminals use and it 
changes hands many times in the process of cleaning it.

"It is quite common for criminals to fabricate a contract to show the 
appearance or disappearance of assets which are entirely fictitious. They 
may be able to handle assets in a way that does not raise alarm at their 
own bank, but what a forensic accountant is able to do is examine the 
paperwork and tell whether something looks as it should. They can tell 
whether there is too much money or whether anything looks incongruous.

"I am sure this will help improve the traditional image of the accountant."

Pearson has headed the SDEA since the beginning of this year. The 
organisation has used the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to target the cash and 
assets belonging to major criminals. The act gives the authorities the 
power to seize the assets of drug dealers. Since April, the agency has 
identified more than UKP8.5m in "realisable criminal assets" for potential 
seizure by the Crown Office. This year, operations involving the SDEA 
resulted in 157 arrests and the disruption of 48 criminal networks.

The agency is shifting its scope from drugs to include all forms of serious 
organised crime such as money laundering, immigration scams and sex 
offences against children.
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