Big City accountancy firms could be drafted in to help police seize the assets of organised criminals who have stashed their wealth abroad, ministers revealed today.
Home Office minister James Brokenshire said that "forensic accountants" and other private investigators could be hired as part of a new strategy to bring more fraudsters, people traffickers and drug dealers to justice.
Other key parts of the blueprint announced today include legal reforms to make it easier to seize ill-gotten gains in this country and a purge on "bent accountants and lawyers" who help criminals set up "front" businesses to conceal their illegal activity.
Ministers say they plan to strike legal agreements with the countries where most of the money goes, though they declined to name any claiming that existing intelligence was too patchy.
Organised crime involves an estimated 38,000 people in Britain and costs the country between
£20 billion and £40 billion a year.
