More than £11m of dirty cash is seized by police

MORE than £11m of dirty money has been seized from criminals in Greater Manchester.

- By NEAL KEELING

GMP's Economic Crime Unit have successfully recovered £11,242,753 this tax year.

The unit is made up of specialist teams who all target different areas of criminal finances. Last year they recovered a record £13.7m.

Over £5m came from the Account Freezing Order Team (AFO). By conducting civil investigations, the team freeze suspected criminal funds in bank accounts and these are then forfeited at court. Another £5m came from the Asset Detention and Recovery Unit (ADRU) who deal with the seizure of all cash and listed assets like high-value watches, such as Rolexes, jewellery, gold bars, and bonds, by conducting civil investigations that arise following these seizures, with a view to forfeiting the assets at court. They can also seize the contents of bank accounts.