Statutory guidance: Proceeds of Crime

The SFO traces, restrains and recovers the proceeds of complex economic crime, including fraud, bribery and corruption.

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

When individuals or companies commit a crime, the law mandates that they must not retain any of the proceeds. This includes any physical assets such as cars or houses that they have acquired with the proceeds of crime.

We pursue these assets from when we first open an investigation, working to uncover, protect and seize assets that have been concealed through trusts and complex corporate ownership structures, or spread across different jurisdictions around the world. Wherever possible, we also use the proceeds of crime to compensate victims, both in the UK and overseas.

We also use the full range of powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to undertake standalone investigations, including using civil recovery and forfeiture powers to recover criminal property, which does not require a conviction to enforce.

Read the latest news from our Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance division below and follow the SFO on Instagram, LinkedIn and X for regular updates.

Recent Proceeds of Crime action taken by the SFO:

On 7 August, the Court of Appeal upheld the six-month prison sentence given to Michael Thomson for contempt of court, following multiple breaches of an SFO restraint order.

We have secured a receivership order variation against Gerald Smith, a vital step in our efforts to satisfy Smith’s £87 million confiscation order.

We have secured an additional £491,967.97 confiscation order against Alan Edwin Gardner after uncovering assets related to his role in a fictitious investment fraud targeting British expatriates in Jakarta. Gardner was convicted and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by Worcester Crown Court in June 2009. This £491,967.97 order follows £186,151.16 paid by Gardner under a previous SFO confiscation order.