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14/06/2006
ARA costs as crime pays
The agency set up to recover assets from organised crime is only raking in a fraction of the cost it takes to run the organisation.
The Assets Recovery Agency came under fire from Conservative Grant Shapps who has criticised the ARA's £20m budget last year while only recovering £4.3m in the period from criminal enterprises.
Mr Shapps said the report he produced was based on official figures for the ARA following Parliamentary questions. He said the figures were evidence that the organisation formed to combat organised crime was "simply not working."
He said that Goverment figures claiming that £68.5m in assets had been "frozen" by the ARA was not evidence that the crime busting agency with extensive powers of seizure was effective in combatting organised crime.
He said: "A freezing order is one thing - selling off the proceeds of crime for the benefit of the public is quite another."
ARA Director Jane Earl said that the "disruptive action" of the agency had made life more difficult for organised crime.
She pointed out that several cases pending had not been processed through the courts as quickly as the agency had anticipated.
The ARA, launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2004, has the power to sieze criminal assets including cash, property and vehicles.
(SP/KMcA)
The Assets Recovery Agency came under fire from Conservative Grant Shapps who has criticised the ARA's £20m budget last year while only recovering £4.3m in the period from criminal enterprises.
Mr Shapps said the report he produced was based on official figures for the ARA following Parliamentary questions. He said the figures were evidence that the organisation formed to combat organised crime was "simply not working."
He said that Goverment figures claiming that £68.5m in assets had been "frozen" by the ARA was not evidence that the crime busting agency with extensive powers of seizure was effective in combatting organised crime.
He said: "A freezing order is one thing - selling off the proceeds of crime for the benefit of the public is quite another."
ARA Director Jane Earl said that the "disruptive action" of the agency had made life more difficult for organised crime.
She pointed out that several cases pending had not been processed through the courts as quickly as the agency had anticipated.
The ARA, launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2004, has the power to sieze criminal assets including cash, property and vehicles.
(SP/KMcA)
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