Official Statistics

Asset recovery statistical bulletin: financial years ending 2019 to 2024

Published 12 September 2024

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

1. About this Release

The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA 2002) enables law enforcement agencies to deprive criminals of their money, or other property connected to criminal activity, and recover the proceeds of crime. This legislative framework encompasses several asset-focussed interventions, including asset denial through restraint (restraint orders), seizures (cash, listed assets) and freezing orders (account freezing orders); and asset recovery through criminal confiscations, civil forfeitures, and civil recovery powers. Recovered criminal proceeds can subsequently be returned in compensation to victims (following criminal conviction) or reinvested for use in tackling crime through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS).

These tools support the disruption of criminal activity and act as a supplementary mechanism or as an alternative to criminal prosecution and conviction. The Economic Crime Plan 2 further highlights the importance and practical use of asset denial and asset recovery tools in tackling economic crime. This release contains official statistics on the value and volume of proceeds of crime restrained, seized, frozen (the ‘denial’ phase) and subsequently recovered and receipted (the ‘recovery’ phase). The release also includes statistics on:

• the value and volume of proceeds of crime by the associated criminal offence types
• the value of compensation paid to victims
• the amount of funds distributed to POCA agencies through ARIS
• the use of funds received by POCA Agencies through ARIS
• the amount awarded to projects via ARIS Top Slice Funding
• statistics on international asset recovery, including asset sharing and the denial, recovery and return of the proceeds of grand corruption

1.1 Data coverage

This release refers to data covering the financial years ending March 2019 to March 2024, for the jurisdictions of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The release does not include data covering Scotland. The statistics are presented as nominal values, that is, not adjusted for inflation, unless stated otherwise and any comparisons to previous years do not account for inflation. Further information on methodology, data sources, data and statistics quality, background information on POCA legislation, and adherence to the Code of Practice for Statistics can be found in the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

2. Main headlines

2.1 Asset recovery

There was £243.3 million of assets recovered from confiscation, forfeiture, and civil recovery orders in the financial year ending March 2024. This is in line with past performance but represents a fall of 29% compared to the financial year ending March 2023, which was an exceptional year.

When comparing receipts recovered in financial year ending March 2024 to financial year ending March 2019, the trend represents a slight increase, rising by 3% from £235.6 million to £243.3 million. Receipts in the financial year ending March 2024 are 2% higher than the 6-year median of £239.4 million.

Compared to the financial year ending March 2023, receipts in the year ending 2024 represent a 29% reduction. This is partially due to one significant high value (£1 million+) civil recovery case (£53.9 million) and on high value confiscation case (£93.5 million) in the financial year ending March 2023. In financial year ending March 2024 there were few high value cases.

Figure 1: The value of proceeds of crime recovered from confiscation orders, forfeiture orders, and civil recovery order receipts, year ending March 2019 to year ending March 2024, for England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD (confiscation order and forfeiture order receipts) and NCA (civil recovery order receipts)

Figure 1 shows that of the £243.3 million recovered in financial year ending March 2024:

• £128.5 million was recovered through confiscation order receipts, a 28% decrease from financial year ending March 2023 and 12% lower than the 6-year median amount recovered (£146.3 million). This is mainly attributed to a lack of high value confiscation orders compared to previous years (for example £93.5 million confiscation order obtained in financial year ending March 2023 by the SFO)
• £107.3 million was recovered through forfeiture order receipts, a 8% increase from financial year ending March 2023, which was partially due to an increase in the value of cash forfeitures
• £7.4 million was recovered through civil recovery order receipts, an 88% decrease from financial year ending March 2023, which saw exceptional performance that can be attributed to a £53.9 million order obtained by the National Crime Agency (NCA). However, more broadly, civil recovery order receipts in the financial year ending March 2024 were at their lowest level in the last 6 financial years

2.2 Asset denial

£885.9 million of assets were restrained, seized or frozen in the financial year ending March 2024, representing an increase of 55% compared to the £570.0 million restrained, seized, or frozen in the previous financial year.

Of the £885.9 million:

• £654.5 million of restraint orders were granted, a 77% increase from £370.4 million in financial year ending March 2023. This is due to a substantial increase in the value of high value restraint cases in financial year ending March 2024 compared to the previous year
• £231.4 million was seized and frozen under forfeiture powers (cash seizures, account freezing orders (AFOs) and listed asset orders). While the value of assets seized under cash seizures has consistently fallen since financial year ending March 2021, the value of AFOs have increased by 37% since financial year ending March 2021, offsetting the decline from cash seizures and driving an overall increase in the total value of seizures

Additionally, £307.9 million of confiscation order impositions were granted in financial year ending March 2024, increasing by 60% from the previous financial year (£192.6 million), reaching the highest value over the past 6 financial years. Confiscation order imposition figures have not been included in the overall asset denial figure, this is because in practice they do not seize, freeze, or restrain assets, in contrast to asset denial powers.

Figure 2 below provides an overview of the asset recovery system, providing summary statistics on the proceeds of crime denied, imposed, and recovered through criminal confiscation POCA powers and civil forfeiture POCA powers. Figure 2 shows that in financial year ending March 2024, of the £243.3 million total asset recovery receipts, the majority of receipts came from confiscation orders. For forfeitures, it shows that whilst AFOs were the most common civil asset denial power, cash seizures were the most common civil forfeiture receipt sub-type. Unexplained wealth orders are represented with a dotted line since they do not classify as a denial power but rather an investigatory tool that can be used to aid civil recovery investigations. A full breakdown of the asset recovery system in the financial year ending March 2024 is presented in the commentary below.

Figure 2: Overview of the asset recovery system in the financial year ending March 2024 in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 2 includes the proceeds of crime restrained, imposed, seized, frozen and then recovered (through a confiscation order, forfeiture order and civil recovery order) in financial year ending March 2024.
2. Restraint orders are an optional power and not all the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of the criminal proceedings will have been subject to a restraint order earlier in the process. Users should be cautious when making comparisons between the data reported for restraint orders and confiscation orders impositions for this reason.
3. The total asset recovery receipts may not equal the sum of the value of the proceeds of crime identified for each individual power for reasons that include: (a) a proportion of total asset recovery receipts will relate to restraint orders, confiscation order impositions and seizures made in previous years; (b) some proceeds of crime restrained or seized may not be recovered or released or they may be returned to the individual if their legitimacy is subsequently proven; (c) rounding.
4. Figure 2, does not represent the entire asset recovery system, the figure only includes powers that are reported on within this statistical release, there may be other mechanisms to deny or recover assets that are not captured.

2.3 Victim compensation and ARIS funding

• it should be noted that compensation figures included within this statistical series only includes compensation paid through confiscation order receipts and does not represent the full value of compensation paid to victims across the criminal justice system. Data on wider criminal courts and criminal justice statistics, including compensation, can be found in the criminal justice statistics publication Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• £17.8 million was paid in compensation to victims from the proceeds of crime recovered through confiscation order receipts in financial year ending March 2024, a 15% increase from the previous financial year and a 12% decrease from the 6-year-median
• £98.1 million of Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) funding was distributed to POCA agencies in the financial year ending March 2024, a 17% decrease from the previous financial year, which mirrors the overall decrease in the proceeds of crime recovered in the same period
• £13.9 million was agreed as the ARIS Top Slice budget for financial year ending March 2024, this was used to fund a total of 15 projects to improve asset recovery processes and performance

2.4 Real terms comparison

The statistics in this section are presented in real terms, adjusted for inflation to current prices (financial year 2024 to 2025). Figures have been converted to real terms using the latest GDP deflators available at time of publication (published July 2024).

The overall upward trend for the total proceeds of crime recovered over the previous 6 financial years is reversed when adjusted for current prices. Since financial year ending March 2019, the total proceeds of crime recovered in real terms have decreased by 15% from £288.3 million to £245.2 million, in contrast to the 3% increase observed in nominal values over the same period. This indicates that inflation has outpaced the nominal increase, leading to a decrease in real value.

Figure 3: Total value of the proceeds of crime recovered, split by nominal and real terms

Source: JARD

Further detail on real term figures can be found in table 1 of the Asset recovery statistics, financial years ending 2019 to 2024: Data tables accompanying this bulletin.

3. Key background information

3.1 Data notes

Data presented on POCA powers and associated forfeiture seizures are produced using data collected on a live operational database, the Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD). It should be noted there will be variations in the data recorded for each financial year due to revisions made in retrospection on the live administrative JARD system. Figures included in the latest statistical release supersede previous officially reported figures. Therefore, any direct comparisons of changes in asset recovery performance should not be made between the latest and previous releases of the asset recovery annual statistical bulletin. Further information on this is outlined in the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

Caution needs to be taken when interpreting trends related to primary offence type, due to recording practices of POCA agencies, whereby money laundering is often recorded as the primary offence because the asset relates to a range of criminal conduct including money laundering.

Statistics on the use of funds received by POCA agencies through ARIS, the amount awarded to projects via ARIS Top Slice Funding and international asset recovery are considered as experimental due to the quality of the data source from which the statistics have been produced. For further information on experimental statistics and the data source and quality issues associated with the experimental statistics included in this release, please refer to the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

The main changes and additions to the Bulletin are presented in detail in the User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

Law enforcement agencies have been categorised into 5 different agency groups for the purpose of asset recovery reporting in relation to economic crime. The 5 groups are:

• local police forces
• regional police forces
• local authorities
• departments, agencies and public bodies
• unassigned

These agency groups are based-on conversations with agency representatives and data categorisation on JARD. A full breakdown of the list of agencies under each group can be found in table 4.2 in the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

3.2 Additional information

The accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics provides the following supplementary information, which may be helpful:

• further information on POCA 2002, including definitions for different civil and criminal POCA powers
• alternative legislation which can be used for the detaining and seizure of criminal assets such as the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It should be noted that this release does not include orders under these Acts
• information on other published asset recovery statistics

4. Criminal confiscation powers

Part 2 of POCA also provide powers to restrain, seize and detain property from criminal conduct following a criminal conviction to prevent the individual from dissipating assets.

This section provides statistics on the value and volume assets restrained, confiscation orders imposed, and the value crime recovered through criminal confiscation specifically:

1. Restraint orders
2. Confiscation order impositions
3. Confiscation order receipts

4.1 Assets denied by restraint orders

Over the last 6 financial years the value of restraint orders has been volatile, which is mostly due to the varying level of high value (£1 million+) restraint orders across this time-period. This can be seen in figure 4 below which shows how the value of restraint orders has changed over this time-period.

Figure 4: The total value of proceeds of crime restrained through restraint orders from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 4 includes proceeds of crime that are restrained so that they cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of by the defendant (or property owner) without court approval whilst confiscation proceedings and enforcement are ongoing.
2. A restraint order is a discretionary order of the court and does not reflect the overall number of confiscation orders made (impositions) or the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of criminal proceedings. Confiscation orders can be imposed without having a restraint order granted to secure assets. Users should be cautious when making comparisons between the data reported for restraint orders and confiscation orders impositions for this reason.

As shown in figure 4 the value of restraint orders in the financial year ending March 2024 has risen to £654.5 million following the lowest value reported in the last 6 financial years at £370.4 million in the previous financial year but performance has remained stable (3% increase) with the 6-year median of £635.5 million.

This increased performance is predominately due to a rise in the value of high value cases in the latest financial year, with 50 high value restraint orders granted with a combined value totalling £487.5 million. The 2 largest orders were: a £75.0 million restraint order related to a fraud offence led by the National Crime Agency International Corruption Unit; and a £75.0 million restraint order relating to theft led by Sussex Police. In comparison, the highest value restraint order granted in the previous financial year was £7.5 million. The volume of restraint orders has remained relatively stable throughout the 6-financial-year time period (2% higher than the 6-financial-year median).

The highest peak in restraint orders, occurring in the financial year ending March 2019, relates to a single high value restraint order relating to fraud obtained by the Metropolitan Police which was worth £350.0 million, almost half of the value of restraint orders that year and is the highest value restraint order granted over the last 6 financial years. The second highest peak was in the financial year ending March 2022, which was also driven by high value orders, with 72 orders accounting for 74% of the value restrained in that financial year.

Figure 5: The volume of restraint orders granted from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 5 includes the number of restraint orders where proceeds of crime were restrained and could not be disposed of whilst confiscation proceedings and enforcement are ongoing.
2. Restraint orders do not reflect the overall number of confiscation orders made (impositions) or the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of the criminal proceedings. Confiscation orders can be imposed without having obtained a restraint order.

As shown in figure 5, the number of restraint orders has remained consistent since financial year ending March 2019, with 1,140 orders granted in the financial year ending March 2024, slightly lower (2%) than the 6-year median of 1,161 orders granted.

Restraint orders by agency sector

The value of the proceeds of crime restrained from restraint orders has increased across all agency sectors compared to the previous financial year, apart from regional police forces whose contribution fell by 18% from £63.7 million in the previous financial year to £52.3 million in the financial year ending March 2024. A breakdown of this can be found in figure 6 below.

Figure 6: The total value of proceeds of crime restrained through restraint orders from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, split by agency sector

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Values presented in figure 6 includes the proceeds of crime that are restrained and cannot be disposed of by the defendant (or property owner) without court approval whilst confiscation proceedings and enforcement are ongoing.

2. A restraint order is a discretionary order of the court and does not reflect the overall number of confiscation orders made (impositions) or the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of the criminal proceedings. Confiscation orders can be imposed without having a prior restraint order. Users should be cautious when making comparisons between the data reported for restraint orders and confiscation orders impositions for this reason.

In the financial year ending March 2024, local police forces restrained £317.2 million, accounting for 49% of the total value for restraint orders:

• although the value restrained by local police forces has increased substantially compared to previous financial year (£146.5 million), due to 4 high value cases totalling £165.0 million, it is still down 44% compared to the 6-year high figure of £568.1 million in financial year ending March 2019, where £350 million was restrained under one order relating to fraud

• local police forces have contributed the most out of any agency sector over the last 6 financial years, with the exception of the financial year ending March 2020 where departments, agencies and public bodies contributed the most, accounting for 47% of total value restrained. This was driven primarily by a single high value order worth £150.0 million

As seen in figure 6, departments, agencies and public bodies contributed £207.3 million (32%) in financial year ending March 2024, up 43% to the previous financial year:

• this increase was primarily attributed to 3 high value cases: £75.0 million fraud-related restraint order by the NCA, £30.0 million other offence related restraint order by the NCA and £30.0 million fraud-related restraint order by the Financial Conduct Authority

Restraint orders by primary offence type

The value of restraint orders has increased across the majority of offence types compared to the previous financial year, apart from modern slavery associated orders whose value decreased by 80% from £3.7 million to £750,000, and drug associated orders whose value decreased by 9% from £107.1 million to £97.0 million.

Trends across different offence types

Performance with respect to value has been driven by fraud-related restraint orders, contributing £1.8 billion, which is 52% of the total value restrained (£3.6 billion) over the last 6 financial years. Of this £828.1 million (45%) can be attributed to departments, agencies and public bodies:

• in the financial year ending March 2024 there were 295 fraud-related restraint orders, which accounted for £275.5 million (42%) of the total amount restrained, showing a 63% increase in value compared to £169.2 million from 255 orders in the previous financial year

However, drug-related offences continue to be the most common offence type, accounting for 50% of the total number of restraint orders (6,990) over the same period. 72% of these orders can be attributed to local police forces:

• drugs-related offences accounted for £97.0 million (15%) of the total amount restrained in the financial year ending March 2024. This is a 9% decrease compared to £107.1 million in the previous financial year and down 5% compared to the median value for the previous 6 financial years (£102.0 million). Despite this, drug-related offences continue to contribute to the majority of orders in terms of volume, accounting for 53% of the volume of restraint orders in the financial year ending March 2024

Performance from money laundering related restraint orders has increased by 196%, from £43.2 million in the financial year ending March 2023 to £127.9 million in the financial year ending. March 2024:

• this is the highest value in the last 6 financial years, up 106% compared to the 6-year median value of £62.2 million and is attributed to 3 high value orders each valued at £30.0 million

Performance from theft- related restraint orders has increased by 384%, accounting for £85.9 million (13%) of the total amount restrained from restraint orders in the financial year ending. March 2024:

• this is up 211% from the 6-year median of £27.6 million. This is attributed to a high value order obtained by Sussex Police valued at £75.0 million

4.2 Confiscation order impositions

Confiscation order impositions take place before the asset recovery phase as they are the point at which the court places a requirement to pay a confiscation order on an offender. Confiscation order impositions do not rely on the defendant’s ability to pay unlike confiscation order receipts which can delay payments. Therefore, confiscation order impositions can highlight the success of agencies at identifying and pursuing cases where assets can be confiscated, and at acquiring confiscation orders against a defendant.

Value of composition order impositions

As shown in figure 7, the value of confiscation order impositions is at a 6-year high, with £307.9 million of confiscation orders imposed for the financial year ending March 2024. This is an increase of 60% from £192.6 million in the previous financial year and an increase of 64% from the 6-year median (£187.7 million).

Figure 7: The value of proceeds of crime imposed from confiscation orders from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Values presented in figure 7 includes the proceeds of crime which the defendant is ordered to pay back to the court. It does not reflect the proceeds of crime which are subsequently recovered through enforcement action and payments.

The increase in confiscation impositions in the financial year ending March 2024, can be attributed to a high value money laundering related imposition of £101.5 million, which accounts for almost half of the total confiscation order imposition in the latest financial year.

The 6-year low in the financial year ending March 2021 could be linked to the restrictions introduced in the COVID-19 pandemic which affected law enforcement, criminal justice, and asset recovery systems.

Volume of confiscation order impositions

Figure 8 below shows that 3,150 confiscation orders were imposed in the financial year ending March 2024. This has increased by 11% from 2,827 in the previous financial year and was relatively stable (up 3%) compared to the 6-year median.

Figure 8: The volume of confiscation orders imposed from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Volumes presented in figure 8 include the proceeds of crime which the defendant is ordered to pay back to the court. It does not reflect the proceeds of crime which are subsequently recovered through enforcement action and payments.

As seen in figure 8 the volume of confiscation order impositions experienced a large drop in financial year ending March 2020, and since then has remained relatively stable. In financial year ending March 2024, 3,150 confiscation order impositions were granted, which is 11% higher (2,827) than the previous financial year.

Confiscation order impositions by agency sector

Figure 9 below shows that in the financial year ending March 2024 impositions from departments, agencies and public bodies have increasingly contributed the most value over the last 4 financial years, accounting for 54% (£166.5 million) of the total value (£307.9 million) in the financial year ending March 2024.

Figure 9: The value of proceeds of crime imposed from confiscation orders from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern, split by agency sector

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Values presented in figure 9 includes the proceeds of crime which the defendant is ordered to pay back to the court. It does not reflect the proceeds of crime which are subsequently recovered through enforcement action and payments.

Local police forces have contributed 47% (£186.0 million) of the total value of impositions between financial years ending March 2019 and March 2020, but since then the proportion they contribute has been decreasing:

• local police forces accounted for 22% (£67.4 million) of impositions in the financial year ending March 2024, with the volume of impositions related to local police forces accounting for 74% of impositions. Despite the proportion local police forces have contributed to impositions decreasing, there has been a 33% increase in the value imposed by local police forces from financial year ending March 2023 (£50.6 million)

Performance of local authorities in financial year ending March 2024, improved with the value of confiscation orders imposed reaching £33.0 million, a 6-year high:

• the value imposed by local authorities in financial year ending March 2024 has increased 4-fold from the previous financial year (£7.8 million). This is partially due to local authorities having their highest value impositions to date: 2 impositions each valued at £11.6 million in relation to money laundering offences

Confiscation order impositions by primary offence type

The value of confiscation order impositions has seen substantive increase for both drugs and money laundering offences, with both offence types reaching 6-year highs of £89.3 million and £170.2 million respectively. Overall, performance across the last 6 financial years has been driven by fraud related confiscation order impositions, contributing £413.9 million, accounting for 34% of the total value imposed (£1.2 billion).

Trends across different offence types

Although fraud contributed the majority of the impositions over the last 6 financial years, for the financial year ending March 2024 only £34.1 million was imposed by fraud related impositions which is a 6-year low:

• in the financial year ending March 2024 there were 413 fraud-related confiscation order impositions, which accounted for £34.1 million (11%) of the total value imposed in the latest financial year, a substantive decrease (73%) compared to £125.6 million in the previous financial year and down 44% compared to the 6-year median

• this decrease is due to the exceptional performance in the previous financial year which included the largest confiscation order imposed in the history of the asset recovery annual statistical series via a £93.5 million order obtained by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for a case involving bribery and corruption across a company’s oil operations

Confiscation order impositions relating to money laundering contributed the highest value of impositions in financial year ending March 2024, with £170.2 million imposed, up 5,452% from the previous financial year:

• there were 123 confiscation order impositions associated with money laundering offences, accounting for 55% (£170.2 million) of the total value of confiscation order impositions. High value impositions accounted for 96% of impositions in financial year ending March 2024 which had a combined value of £162.5 million. In financial year ending March 2024, £139.9 million (82%) of money laundering related impositions were led by departments, agencies and public bodies, with £132.4 million relating to one operation

Drug-related offences continue to be the most common offence type, accounting for 63% (12,446) of the 19,906 confiscation order impositions imposed across the last 6 financial years:

• within the financial year ending March 2024, drug-related offences contributed the majority of impositions in terms of volume, with 2,303 orders accounting for 73% of total confiscation orders imposed. Comparatively, drug-related offences contributed only 29% of the total value of confiscation orders imposed (£89.3 million). Despite contributing a low value, the number imposed in the latest financial year was 13% higher compared to the previous year (2,042)

• local police forces have predominately driven drug-related impositions accounting for 67% (£179.9 million) over the last 6 financial years. Additionally, drug-related impositions were driven by local police forces, accounting for £48.5 million in financial year ending March 2024, which was a 36% increase from the previous financial year

Theft-related offences saw a decrease of 50%, reaching a 6 financial year low in this series, from £6.4 million to £3.1 million:

• the decrease seen in theft-related offences was mainly attributed to a decrease of 66% from £2.6 million to £909,000 recovered by regional police compared to financial year ending March 2023

4.3 Assets recovered by confiscation order receipts

There was £128.5 million recovered from confiscation order receipts in the financial year ending March 2024, falling by 28% from £179.0 million recovered in the previous financial year and by 12% compared to the 6-year median of £146.3 million. This decrease is due to exceptional performance in the financial year ending March 2023 which saw the highest amount of confiscation order receipts recorded in the last 6 financial years, with a single order bringing in £93.5 million, accounting for 52% of the total receipts recovered in that year.

Figure 10: The value of confiscation order receipts from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Figure 10 shows the value of the proceeds of crime recovered (paid against confiscation order impositions) from the defendant following the end of criminal proceedings. It includes payments received from the defendant, or through successful enforcement activity, on any outstanding confiscation orders which means it can include payments linked to a confiscation order imposition in the current financial year and previous ones.

As shown in figure 10, there was a decline in the value of confiscation order receipts between the financial years ending March 2019 and March 2021. The introduction of COVID-19 restrictions in the financial year ending March 2021 had a negative effect on the entire criminal justice system, including investigation, prosecution and conviction capacity and capability, impacting confiscation order impositions and confiscation order receipts in the financial years ending March 2021 and March 2022.

Following the low in the financial year ending March 2021, confiscation order receipts have increased substantially, with performance peaking in the financial year ending March 2023 due to an uptake in high value cases worth £94.5 million. The latest financial year saw a drop of 28% (£27.6 million) due to fewer high value cases.

Confiscation order receipts’ value by agency sector

In the financial year ending March 2024, local police forces contributed £65.6 million in confiscation order receipts, accounting for 51% of the total proceeds of crime recovered from confiscation order receipts, with their contribution increasing by 37% on the previous financial year (£47.9 million). In contrast, performance from departments, agencies and public bodies has sharply fallen by 74% to £28.7 million.

Figure 11: The value of confiscation order receipts from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, by agency sector

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Figure 11 shows the value of the proceeds of crime recovered (paid against confiscation order impositions) from the defendant following the end of criminal proceedings. It includes payments received from the defendant, or through successful enforcement activity, on any outstanding confiscation orders which means it can include payments linked to a confiscation order imposition in the current financial year and previous ones.

Local police forces have recovered £207.1 million between financial year ending March 2018 and March ending 2021, the highest value (51%) recovered by any agency sector in this time period. The receipts recovered by local police forces in this period were predominately from drug-related cases (£81.0 million):

• in financial years ending March 2022 and March 2023, departments, agencies and public bodies have accounted for a larger proportion of confiscation order receipts (47% and 61% respectively) than local police forces

Departments, agencies and public bodies have seen volatile performance over the 6-year period, which is mostly attributed to this sector dealing with many high value cases:

• in financial years ending March 2022 and March 2023, departments, agencies and public bodies recovered £48.4 million and £94.5 million respectively in high value receipts which was a substantial increase compared to previous financial years. Since then, the number of high value orders have decreased for departments, agencies and public bodies which has seen a corresponding decrease in value of confiscation order receipts, down 74% from £109.8 million recovered to £28.7

Regional police forces in financial year ending March 2024 recovered £21.5 million (of which drug-related offences contributed 43%), the highest value recovered since the peak of £25.2 million in financial year ending March 2020:

• regional police forces contributed £21.5 million (17%) worth of the proceeds of crime recovered from confiscation order receipts in the latest financial year, up 61% compared to the previous financial year

The value of confiscation order receipts recovered by local authorities has increased, up 54% from £7.8 million recovered in the financial year ending March 2023 to £12.0 million in the latest financial year.

Data note on confiscation order receipts

The measure for the volume of confiscation orders in which the proceeds of crime have been recovered is not reported in this release due to limitations with JARD data. Further information on this is available in the User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

Confiscation order receipts’ value by primary offence type

The value of confiscation order receipts has increased across the majority of offence types, excluding fraud and modern slavery, compared to the previous financial year. Fraud related confiscation orders recovered the highest value of receipts across the 6 financial year period, accounting for £360.3 million (42%) of the £866.4 million recovered.

Trends across different offence types

Drug-related confiscation order receipts, recovered £62.5 million in financial year ending March 2024, which is the highest value recorded within this statistical series for drug-related receipts:

• drug-related confiscation order receipts (£62.5 million), accounted for 49% of total confiscation order receipts recovered in financial year ending March 2024, up 69% from £36.9 million in the previous financial year

• this increase is partially due £11.6 million coming from 2 high value payments: £6.7 million from NCA led operation and £4.9 million from a West Yorkshire Police operation. Local police forces have consistently contributed the highest value of receipts across this 6 financial year reporting period, being responsible for 72% of the value of £245.5 million receipts recovered relating to drug offences

Fraud-related confiscation receipts recovered in financial year ending March 2024 were the lowest recorded in the last 6 financial years:

• the value of confiscation order receipts for fraud-related offences in the latest financial year was £34.3 million, accounting for 27% of confiscation order receipts. This is down 71% from the previous financial year which is mostly due to a reduction of 87% from £103.0 million recovered by departments, agencies and public bodies to £12.9 million in 2023 to 2024. In financial year ending March 2023 there was the largest confiscation receipt recorded in this series (£93.5 million) which was related to fraud.

However, despite the decline in recovery by departments, agencies and public bodies, since financial year ending March 2021, departments, agencies and public bodies have been the leading agency sector in fraud-related confiscation order receipts accounting for 66% of drug-related receipts in this period.

5. Civil forfeiture powers

Part 5 of POCA makes provisions for the forfeiture of certain assets (cash, monies in relevant accounts or listed assets) that are determined to be, or to represent property obtained through or intended for use in unlawful conduct without a criminal conviction. If the relevant statutory conditions are satisfied the Magistrates’ Court will authorise the seizure and forfeiture of assets. The detention and forfeiture can also occur under other legislation including, but not limited to, the Drugs Trafficking Act 1994, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. Under POCA legislation the denial of assets is mandatory before assets can be forfeited,

This section provides a summary of the statistics on the value and volume of the proceeds of crime seized, frozen and recovered (forfeited) under different legislation, including POCA, as follows:

1. The value and volume of proceeds of crime seized and frozen through all seizure sub-type forfeiture powers.

2. The value and volume of proceeds of crime recovered from forfeiture order receipts and through all seizure sub-type forfeiture order powers.

5.1 Assets denied by seizures

Value of seizures

In the financial year ending March 2024, £231.4 million was seized and frozen under all seizure sub-types, an increase of 15.9% from the previous financial year. Of these:

• £175.0 million (76%) was from AFOs, compared to £137.3 million (69% of £199.6 million) in the previous financial year.

• £49.5 million (21%) was from cash seizures, compared to £53.5 million (27%) in the previous financial year.

• £7.0 million (3%) was from listed assets, compared to £8.8 million (4%) in the previous financial year.

Since the financial year ending March 2019 a total of £1.4 billion have been seized and frozen using seizure powers, with AFOs consistently contributing the highest value of seizures of all subtypes.

Figure 12: The value of proceeds of crime seized and frozen under all seizure sub-types from financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 12 shows the value of assets or proceeds of crime seized (cash, listed assets) and frozen (AFOs) that cannot be accessed by the respondent whilst the investigation is undertaken (subject to exclusions, for example, to carry on any trade, business, profession, and for reasonable living expenses). It does not reflect the proceeds of crime which are recovered at the end of the investigation.

2. These powers can only be used where assets or proceeds of crime are worth more than the prescribed minimum amount, currently set at £1,000.

As shown in figure 12, the total assets seized and frozen peaked in the financial year ending March 2020 at £292.7 million, which was mostly driven by AFO seizures, 75% (£219.8 million) of the total seized value. This peak was driven by 28 high value seizures under the AFOs seizure sub-type worth £167.7 million, which accounted for 57% of the assets seized and frozen. Within this, there was £119.4 million frozen under one investigation.

Whilst the total value of assets seized peaked in the financial year ending March 2020, the value of cash seizures, a seizure subtype, peaked in the financial year ending March 2021 (£126.4 million) due to multiple high value operations that year. Despite the decline in assets seized since the financial year ending March 2020, the total amount seized and frozen in the latest financial year is the highest value reported since financial year ending March 2021, reflecting the increase in values seized over the last 2 financial years. In financial year ending March 2024, £231.4 million was seized and frozen which was 7% higher than the median value for the previous 6 financial years (£215.5 million) and up 16% from the £199.6 million seized and frozen in the previous financial year.

Cash seizures continued to decline with £49.5 million (21%) seized in the financial year ending March 2024. The value of cash seizures was 30% lower than the average seized across the last 6 financial years, continuing the downwards trajectory of cash seizures over recent years. AFOs contributed the most to asset seizures in the financial year ending March 2024: £175.0 million in frozen assets (76%).

Volume of seizures

There were 4,643 seizures processed in the financial year ending March 2024, increasing by 10% compared to 4,234 processed in the previous financial year. This remains relatively in line (2% increase) with the median seizures processed across this 6 financial year period of 4,556 seizures. The seizures in the financial year ending March 2024 continues the upwards trend in seizures processed after a high in financial year ending March 2021 with 5,176 seizures.

The seizure sub-type volume breakdown in the financial year ending March 2024 is:

• 2,680 orders (58%) were associated with cash seizures, compared to 2,600 orders (61%) in the previous financial year

• 1,800 orders (39%) were associated with AFOs, compared to 1,470 orders (35%) in the previous financial year

• 163 orders (4%) were associated with listed asset orders, compared to 164 orders (4%) in the previous financial year

Figure 13: The volume of proceeds of crime seized under all seizure sub-types from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. These powers can only be used where assets or proceeds of crime are worth more than the prescribed minimum amount currently set at £1,000.

As shown in figure 13, the total number of seizures increased until financial year ending March 2021, hitting a 6-year peak of 5,176 before dropping to 4,186 in the financial year ending March 2022, which is the lowest volume granted within the last 6 financial years. However, since then seizures have steadily been increasing again with seizures obtained in the financial year ending March 2024 being 10% higher than last financial year and 2% higher than the median number of total seizures for the previous 6 financial years (4,556 orders).

Cash seizures have remained the most prominent seizure sub-type over the last 6 financial years. The number of cash seizures had been rising consistently, reaching a peak (3,804 seizures) in the financial year ending March 2022, before dropping to a 6-year low in the financial year ending March 2023. However, in the latest financial year cash seizures have begun increasing again (3% higher than financial year ending March 2023) to 2,680 seizures.

Since AFOs introduction in the Criminal Finances Act 2017, their volume has continued to increase with 1,800 being processed in the financial year ending March 2024, which is a 6 financial year to date high, increasing by 22% from last year (1,470 orders). This highlights the importance of the new AFO powers as a key method in managing to seize funds without a criminal conviction.

There is a relatively low volume of listed assets processed yearly with an average of 121 per financial year. However, in the financial year ending March 2024 there were 163 listed asset seizures, which is 35% higher than the average over the last 6 reported financial years.

Seizures by agency sector

Until financial year ending March 2021 local police forces were the most prominent agency sector for seizures. Since then departments, agencies and public bodies have become the most prominent agency sector for seizures, in terms of value:

• departments, agencies and public bodies seized and froze £123.2 million (53%) of the £231.4 million seized in the latest financial year, up 76% from the previous financial year. Departments, agencies and public bodies have seized and frozen 16% more than the average for their sector over the last 6 financial years. This increase is primarily driven by a 250% increase (£61.6 million from £17.6 million in previous financial year) in the value of high value cases. The most prominent, in terms of volume, for departments, agencies and public bodies seizures in financial year ending March 2024 were AFOs with 553 (55%) being granted of the 996 denials

• despite local police forces decreasing in value, they remain the most prominent agency sector in terms of volume, over the last 6 financial years accounting for 70% (19,229) seizure within that period. The most prominent offence type, in terms of volume, for local police forces was drug-related seizures, which accounted for 49% (1,477 seizures) in the latest financial year

The value seized and frozen by local police forces in financial year ending March 2024, was 11% lower than the average for the previous 6 financial years.

• local police forces maintained the decreasing trend that has been seen since the financial year ending March 2022, with £86.1 million (37%) being seized and frozen in the latest financial year, which is a 16% reduction compared to the previous financial year. Money laundering offences were most common offence type associated with assets seized and frozen by local police forces in the financial year ending March 2024 (£58.2 million). Despite local police forces seeing a gradual fall (34%) in cash seizures over the 6 financial year the volume of AFOs has increased by 102% over the same period

Seizures by primary offence type

Seizures associated with money laundering offences in financial year ending March 2024 accounted for the largest volume and value of all seizures:

• money laundering-related offences have seized £706.9 million (52%) of the £1.4 billion seized over the last 6 financial years, being the most prominent offence type for all seizure sub-types over this period

• in the financial year ending March 2024 the value of all seizures associated with money laundering related offences were £137.2 million, accounting for 59% of the total value, whilst increasing by 14% compared to the previous financial year (£120.9 million). In terms of volume money laundering offences accounted for 38% (1,747) of seizures in financial year ending March 2024, the most prominent for that year. Money laundering seizures were driven by departments, agencies and public bodies, who accounted for 51% (£69.7 million) in financial year ending March 2024

• the majority of money laundering seizures in the latest financial year were AFOs (80%). Excluding the financial year ending March 2020, over £100 million was seized in relation to money laundering every financial year with a peak seen in year ending March 2021 (£147.6 million). This peak is partly due to 8 high value cases totalling £52.0 million, including one case valued at £33.8 million

• it should be noted that this trend is partially attributed to recording practises as POCA agencies often default to recording seizure as money laundering as a catch-all for illicit finances or because the assets relate to a range of criminal conduct including money laundering. This means caution needs to be taken when interpreting trends related to primary offence type

Drug-related criminal offences and offences categorised as ‘other’ were the only 2 offences which saw a decrease in seizures compared to last financial year, decreasing by 18% and 35% respectively:

• from financial years ending March 2019 to March 2023 the highest volume of seizures were associated with drug-related offences accounting for 11,066 (49%) of the 22,733 seizures over that period. In the latest financial year, 1,718 seizures were associated with drug offences, down 4% compared to the previous year following the trend of a decrease in the volume of drug seizures since the peak in the financial year ending March 2021

In financial year ending March 2020, fraud was the most prominent primary offence type for all seizures with £138.2 million seized, however £119.4 million of this related to one large scale investigation:

• fraud related criminal offences contributed £54.2 million (23%) through seizures in the financial year ending March 2024 with the majority of the seizures being AFOs (91%). This increase can partially be attributed to the increase in the volume of seizures (448) up 16% on the average for the last 6 financial years. Fraud-related criminal offences have been driven by departments, agencies and public bodies with £239.0 million (83%) being seized over the last 6 financial years

5.2 Assets recovered by forfeiture order receipts

Value of forfeiture order receipts

In the financial year ending March 2024, £107.3 million was recovered under forfeiture orders, which is an increase of 8% from £99.6 million in the previous financial year.

Of these:

• £60.0 million (56%) was from cash forfeitures, compared to £48.6 million (49%) in the previous financial year

• £44.3 million (41%) was from bank forfeitures compared to £49.8 million (50%) the previous year

• £2.6 million (2%) was recovered from listed assets, which is the highest value recovered under listed assets over the 6 financial year period with an 138% increase compared to the previous year

Since the financial year ending March 2019 a total of £642.3 million has been recovered using forfeiture powers. Notably, in the financial year ending March 2022 there were 13 high value bank forfeitures contributing £89.9 million, with £44.9 million being recovered from 2 bank forfeitures.

Between the financial years ending March 2019 and March 2021, forfeiture recoveries were mainly driven by cash forfeitures. Since the financial year ending March 2022, bank forfeitures have surpassed cash forfeitures as the main drivers of forfeiture recoveries. Forfeiture recoveries peaked in the financial year ending March 2022 with £194.7 million recovered, with £97.5 million being recovered through 18 high value orders.

Figure 14: The value of forfeiture order receipts (total and sub-types) from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 14 shows the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of an investigation from the respondent. It includes the proceeds of crime recovered on any outstanding forfeiture order which means the proceeds recovered could be linked to a seizure from a previous financial year.

2. These powers can only be used where assets or the proceeds of crime are worth more than the prescribed minimum amount of £1,000.

3. Note that the total sum for forfeiture order receipts by sub-type includes seizures where the sub-type was not recorded or specified on JARD.

4. Note that the value captured for forfeiture order receipts is based on the original order amount due to data entry issues on JARD.

As shown in figure 14, from the financial year ending March 2019 the value of forfeiture order receipts increased sharply to a peak in March 2022 (£194.7 million recovered). Despite the value of forfeiture order receipts experiencing a sharp decline to £99.6 million in the financial year ending March 2023, the value of receipts had begun increasing (by 8%) to £107.3 million in the latest financial year.

The value receipted in the latest financial year is 4% higher than the median for the previous 6 financial years (£103.4 million). Cash forfeitures saw a 23% increase in performance, aided by the recovery of 2 high value cases with a combined worth of £5.1 million compared to zero high value orders in the financial year ending March 2023. In contrast, bank forfeitures saw a 11% decrease in value which can partially be attributed to a decrease (70%) in high value bank forfeitures, with £4.5 million being recovered in the financial year ending March 2024 compared to £15.1 million in the previous financial year.

Volume of forfeiture orders

There were 3,725 forfeiture orders granted in the financial year ending March 2024, representing an increase of 6% from 3,514 in the previous financial year.

Of these:

• 2,760 orders (74%) were cash forfeitures, compared to 2,613 orders (74%) in the previous financial year

• 876 orders (24%) were bank forfeitures, compared to 833 (24%) in the previous financial year

• 76 orders (2%) were listed asset orders, compared to 68 (2%) in the previous financial year

Figure 15: The volumes of forfeiture order receipts by sub-types from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 15 shows volume of the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of an investigation from the respondent. It includes the proceeds of crime recovered on any outstanding forfeiture order which means the proceeds recovered could be linked to a seizure from a previous financial year.

2. These powers can only be used where assets or the proceeds of crime are worth more than the prescribed minimum amount currently set at £1,000.

3. Note that the total sum for forfeiture order receipts by sub-type includes seizures where the sub-type was not recorded or specified on JARD.

As figure 15 shows, there has been a general increase in the number of forfeiture orders over the last 6 financial years, with some fluctuation including a peak in the financial year ending March 2022 (3,794 forfeiture orders). Orders in the latest financial year were up 6% from the previous financial year and were 9% higher than the median number of orders for the previous 6 financial years (3,408 orders).

Cash seizures have remained the most prominent forfeiture order sub-type over the last 6 financial years. Compared to the previous year, the number of cash forfeitures orders granted have risen by 6% and are 1% above the median number of cash forfeitures orders for the previous 6 financial years (2,731). Additionally, there has been substantial growth in the number of bank account forfeiture orders, up 49% from the average number of bank account forfeiture orders for the previous 6 financial-years (589) and up 5% compared to the previous financial year (833). Listed assets saw the highest value recovered over the 6 financial year period partly attributed to a 12% increase in the volume of listed asset forfeitures compared to the previous year.

Forfeiture order receipts’ value by agency sector

In the financial year ending March 2024, forfeiture order receipts from local police forces totalled £59.0 million, accounting for 55% of total value of forfeiture order receipts:

• local police forces also accounted for the highest volume of orders, with 2,790 forfeiture orders (75%) associated with local police forces, remaining broadly consistent with the proportions seen in the previous year (77% of forfeitures attributed to local police forces). Of these, 2,133 were cash forfeiture orders, remaining consistent with the previous financial year and with the 6-year median (2,007) increasing by 3%

• in the financial year ending March 2024, forfeiture order receipts from local authorities were £454,000, achieving local authorities’ highest value of recoveries over the last 6 financial years, increasing by 155% from £178,000 in the previous financial year

• regional police forces contributed £13.7 million (13%) to forfeiture order receipts in the latest financial year, achieving the highest value of recovery over the last 6 financial years continuing the upward trend that has been occurring since the financial year ending March 2022

Departments, agencies and public bodies contributed £34.1 million (32%) in financial year ending March 2024 remaining in line with the median for the previous 6 financial years (£35.0 million).

• they accounted for 542 (15%) of forfeiture orders in the financial year ending March 2024, increasing by 16% from 469 in the previous financial year. As seen with local police forces, cash forfeitures remained the most common forfeiture sub-type amongst departments, agencies and public bodies, with 342 (63%) in the latest financial year

Forfeiture order receipts by primary offence type

Money laundering related offences have remained the most prominent primary offence type for forfeiture orders over the last 6 financial years, accounting for £377.7 million (59%) of the £642.3 million total value of forfeiture order receipts over the 6 financial-year period:

• in the financial year ending March 2024, money laundering related offences contributed £59.6 million, a 12% increase compared to the previous financial year and is driven by local police forces who contributed £34.3 million (58%) of receipts. This is on trend with the 2 previous financial years where local police forces were the main contributor of receipts in relation to money laundering, being responsible for 62% of the total value of receipts for the financial year ending March 2022 to the latest year

• money laundering related offences also saw a substantial increase (19%) in the volume of forfeiture orders from 855 in the previous financial year to 1,020, reaching a 6 financial year high

Fraud related offences reached a 6-year peak in the financial year ending March 2024, contributing £15.3 million (14%) to the total value of proceeds of crime recovered from forfeiture orders in that year:

• this was led by departments, agencies and public bodies who contributed 75% of the total value of receipts for the financial year ending March 2024. This continues the trend from previous years with departments, agencies and public bodies consistently contributing to the majority of receipts, accounting for 69% of the total value of receipts over the 6 financial years

Drug-related offences are also up, by 13% from the previous year, contributing £25.5 million (24%):

• in the financial year ending March 2024, 1,855 forfeiture orders were associated with drugs related offences, accounting for 50% of total seizures. Of these forfeiture orders, 1,685 (91%) were led by local police forces

• overall, drug-related offences were the most prominent primary offence type for forfeiture orders over the last 6 financial years, accounting for over half (54%) of forfeiture orders since the financial year ending March 2019

5.3 Civil recovery powers

Background

Part 5 of POCA contains civil recovery powers to enable an enforcement authority to recover property which is determined to be or to represent property obtained through unlawful conduct. Applications are made in civil proceedings before the High Court.

Unexplained wealth orders (UWOs)

An unexplained wealth order (UWO) is an investigative power that was introduced as part of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 amendments to POCA powers. If an individual or company subject to a UWO does not provide the information sought, without a reasonable excuse, then there is a statutory presumption that the property in question is recoverable property, and it could result in the applicant for the UWO proceedings obtaining a civil recovery order. An interim freezing order can also be applied for alongside a UWO to prevent property being dissipated during the proceedings. These can be extended into property freezing orders however statistics on these orders are not provided within this statistical release.

This section provides a summary of the statistics on the number and value of UWOs and the value recovered from civil recovery order receipts.

Key notes on using these statistics

An UWO is an investigative power and not all proceeds of crime recovered by civil recovery receipts will have been subject to an UWO earlier in the process. Users should be cautious when making comparisons between the data reported for UWOs and civil recovery receipts for this reason.

Volume and agency statistics have not been provided for civil recovery order receipts because there is no available data. Further information on data quality, methodology and the legislative background of the civil system process for proceeds of crime under POCA can be found in the User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

Civil recovery investigative tools: UWOs

Based on data provided by the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) in April 2024, £1.8 million was investigated under UWOs in the financial year ending March 2024, up from £0 in the last 3 financial years.

The Home Office annual UWO report is a statutory requirement under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 to report annually on the number of UWOs obtained for an applied each year. The report will be published separately to the annual statistical bulletin every September.

Value of receipts recovered from civil recovery orders

Data presented on civil recovery orders receipts is provided by the National Crime Agency (NCA). These statistics are considered as experimental due to the quality of the administrative dataset which has been used in their production. For further information on experimental statistics and data quality issues please refer to the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

In the financial year ending March 2024, £7.4 million was recovered under civil recovery orders, marking a substantial decrease of 88% from £62.9 million in the previous financial year. Although civil recovery receipts recovered in financial year ending March 2024 were the lowest recorded in the series, this performance is more in line with typical performance seen since financial year ending March 2019 (excluding financial year ending March 2023).

Figure 16: The value of proceeds of crime recovered through civil recovery order receipts from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: NCA

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 16 shows the proceeds of crime recovered from any civil recovery orders granted in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. These amounts can include receipts linked to orders made in a previous financial year.

As shown in figure 16, the value of civil recovery orders over the last 6 financial years remained relatively unchanged until the financial year ending March 2022. The value of civil recovery order receipts then spiked in the financial year ending March 2023, an increase of 574% compared to the median value for the previous 6 financial years (£9.3 million). This is explained by one high value operation processed by an NCA obtained civil recovery order with a value of £53.9 million linked to the recovery of accounts held by one bank that had been suspended due to suspected fraud.

6. Compensation to victims

The compensation figures included within this statistical series only include compensation paid through confiscation order receipts and do not represent the full value of compensation paid to victims across the criminal justice system. Data on wider criminal courts and criminal justice statistics including compensation can be found in the Criminal justice statistics and Criminal court statistics.

In the financial year ending March 2024, £17.8 million in compensation was paid to victims from proceeds of crime recovered through confiscation order receipts. This is a 15% increase from the previous financial year (£15.5 million).

One of the main factors driving this rise is an increase in the compensation recovered from local police forces and regional police, increasing by 23% and 35% respectively from the financial year ending March 2023.

It should be noted that compensation orders can only be applied for when a criminal confiscation order has been granted; forfeiture and civil recovery orders cannot have compensation orders granted against them.

Compensation granted in Northern Ireland reached a 6 financial year high with £299,000 being allocated to compensation, this is up 220% from the financial year ending March 2023 and contributed to the overall increase seen in compensation in the latest financial year. Despite this, the financial year ending March 2024 saw a 12% decrease from the median for the previous 6 financial years (£20.3 million), continuing the longer-term trend of a decrease in compensation being given to victims through confiscation orders.

Figure 17: Total compensation paid to victims from the financial year ending March 2019 until the financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, split by agency sector

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. A court imposing a confiscation order can also order an offender to pay compensation to the victim of their crime. If the offender does not have the means to satisfy both their confiscation order and compensation order, the court can order that compensation order to be payable from the sums recovered as part of the confiscation order.

2. Data in figure 17 captures the total amount paid out to all victims as compensation (from confiscation) from the financial year ending March 2019 to the financial year ending March 2024.

As shown in figure 17, despite some annual fluctuation, there has been a gradual decline in the value of total compensation paid to victims since the financial year ending March 2019 with the total compensation paid to victims falling from its highest peak of £36.9 million in the financial year ending March 2019 to its lowest amount of £15.5 million in the financial year ending March 2023. The dip between the financial years ending March 2020 and March 2021 mirrors the dip in overall confiscation order receipts in those respective years.

However, the value of compensation paid to victims does not always reflect the overall proceeds of crime recovered from confiscation order receipts within the financial year, as seen in the financial year ending March 2023 when the highest value of confiscation order receipts was obtained (£179.0 million) but the lowest value of compensation within the last 6 financial years was granted. Compensation is only payable to the victim from confiscation order receipts when the court considers that the offender does not have the means to satisfy both their confiscation order and compensation order and accordingly, the latter should be paid out of confiscated funds.

Compensation granted in the financial year ending March 2024 made up 14% of confiscation order receipts, compared to 9% in the previous financial year.

Compensation by primary offence type

As seen in figure 17 of the £17.8 million paid in compensation in the financial year ending March 2024:

• £11.9 million (67%) were associated with fraud related offences

• £2.1 million (12%) were associated with money laundering related offences

• £1.8 million (10%) were associated with offences categorised as other

• £1.7 million (10%) were associated with theft related offences

• the remaining £254,000 (1%) were associated with drugs and modern slavery offences
  

• fraud related offences have remained the most prominent primary offence type for compensation over the last 6 financial years

  Fraud related offences accounted for 67% (£94.5 million) of compensation processed since the financial year ending March 2019. Local Police Force have processed £63.1 million of compensation relating to fraud offences over this period, accounting for 67% of all fraud-related compensation.

Money laundering related offences have increased by 74% from £1.2 million in the financial year ending March 2023 to £2.1 million in the financial year ending March 2024:

• local police forces were the most prominent agency sector, accounting for £1.4 million (65%) of all money laundering related compensation in financial year ending March 2024

Compensation for theft related offences has decreased to the lowest value reported in this series at £1.7 million in the latest financial year, 52% lower than the average (£3.6 million) for the last 6 financial years.

• it should be noted that certain offence types (like fraud and theft) are more likely to have easily identifiable victims than other offences and are therefore more likely to have compensation orders associated with confiscation orders

Compensation by agency sector

Of the £17.8 million paid in compensation in the financial year ending March 2024:

• £12.7 million (71%) were associated with confiscation orders processed by local police forces

• £2.5 million (14%) were associated with confiscation orders processed by regional police forces

• £1.4 million (8%) were associated with confiscation orders processed by local authorities and unassigned agencies

• £1.3 million (7%) were associated with confiscation orders processed by departments, agencies and public bodies
  

• local police forces have paid the largest amount of victim compensation from confiscation order receipts over the last 6 financial years accounting for £98.0 million (70%)

Across these last 6 financial years fraud related offences have contributed to most to the compensation paid by local police forces with £9.0 million being attributed to fraud related offences in the financial year ending March 2024 for local police forces, over 6 times higher value than the next most prominent offence (money laundering with £1.4 million in the financial year ending March 2024.) For all agency sectors the most common offence related to compensation being processed was fraud.

Regional police forces processed £2.5 million in compensation in the financial year ending March 2024:

• this is the highest value since the financial year ending March 2020 where £4.9 million was processed in compensation. Over the last 3 years, the of compensation processed by regional police forces has continued to increase

Departments, agencies and public bodies had their lowest recorded year of compensation processed from confiscation orders in the financial year ending March 2024 at £1.3 million.

• this was 59% lower than the 6 financial-years average, and 55% lower than the previous financial year. This decline can mainly be attributed to the substantial decrease in fraud related offences processed by departments, agencies and public bodies with a decrease of 68% from £2.7 million in the previous financial year to £855,000 in the financial year ending March 2024

7. Asset recovery incentivisation scheme (ARIS)

ARIS was introduced in 2006 to allow a proportion of the proceeds of crime recovered under POCA, to be redistributed to agencies involved in the asset recovery process. The Home Office encourages agencies to invest ARIS funds to drive up performance on asset recovery or, where appropriate, to fund local crime fighting priorities for the benefit of the community.

7.1 ARIS payments distributed to POCA agencies

Data presented on the ARIS payments is provided by a Home Office administrative database.

There was £98.1 million of ARIS funding distributed to POCA agencies in the financial year ending March 2024, a 17% decrease from the previous financial year, which is mirrored by the overall decrease in the proceeds of crime recovered in the same period. The data presented shows that ARIS payments to POCA agencies have increased by 15% over the 6 financial-year reporting period, up from £85.3 million paid in the financial year ending March 2019.

Figure 18: ARIS receipts paid to POCA agencies from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, by agency sector

Source: Home Office

Notes:

1. Due to the process involved in calculating, assuring and distributing funds, ARIS payments are distributed a quarter in arrears with the final 2 quarterly payment made in the following financial year.
2. Data presented in figure 18 shows the distribution of ARIS payments not the allocations based on administrative data managed by the Home Office.

There was steady growth in the overall amount of ARIS paid out between the financial years ending March 2019 to March 2021 , followed by a significant increase of 59% in the financial year ending March 2022 which mirrors the overall increase in the proceeds of crime recovered in the same period (63% increase). ARIS funding paid to POCA agencies in the financial year ending March 2024 is down 17% compared to the exceptional amount allocated in the financial year ending March 2023 (£117.9 million) but is up 5% compared to the median amount paid for the previous 6 financial years.

Since the financial year ending March 2019, departments, agencies and public bodies have received more in ARIS payments than any other agency sector, accounting for 59% (£363.2 million) ARIS payments over the last 6 financial years. In the financial year ending March 2024, the amount of ARIS paid to departments, agencies and public bodies was £48.7 million, accounting for 50% of the total amount of ARIS payments made to all POCA agencies. Local police forces and regional police forces received £40.6 million (41%) and £3.4 million (3%) respectively. Seventy-five local authorities received ARIS payments in the financial year ending March 2024, totalling £5.5 million.

In the financial year ending March 2024 prosecution and enforcement for HMCTS and CPS totalled £27.1 million in ARIS receipts (28%). The following 5 largest recipients for ARIS payments, aside from HMCTS and CPS, were HM Revenue and Customs, the Metropolitan Police Service, the National Crime Agency, Greater Manchester Police and West Midlands Police totalling £33.4 million (34% of the total amount). All the 5 largest recipients for ARIS payments in the financial year ending March 2024 bar West Midlands Police (replaced with Serious Fraud Office) are within the 5 largest recipients over the last 6 financial years accounting for £250.1 million of the £620.6 million (40%) ARIS payments.

Real terms comparison

As seen in figure 19, since the financial year ending March 2019, the total ARIS funding distributed to POCA agencies in real terms has fallen by 5% from £104.4 million to £98.9 million in the financial year ending March 2024, in contrast to the 15% increase observed in nominal values over the same period. This indicates that inflation has outpaced the nominal increase, leading to a decrease in real value.

Figure 19: Nominal and real term value payments to law enforcement agencies under the ARIS scheme for financial years ending March 2019 to financial year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office

Notes:

1. Due to the process involved in calculating, assuring and distributing funds, ARIS payments are distributed a quarter in arrears with the final 2 quarterly payment made in the following financial year.
2. Data presented in figure 19 shows the distribution of ARIS payments not the allocations based on administrative data managed by the Home Office.
3. The statistics in figure 19 are presented in real terms, adjusted for inflation to current prices (financial year 2024/25). Figures have been converted to real terms using the latest GDP deflators available at time of publication (published July 2024).

Further detail on real term figures can be found in table 12 of the Asset Recovery Statistics, financial years ending 2019 to 2024: Data tables accompanying this bulletin.

7.2 Use of Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) funding

Data presented on the use of ARIS funds is taken from a survey managed by Home Office. These statistics are considered as experimental due to the quality of the survey which has been used in their production. For further information on experimental statistics and known data quality issues with the data sources used in the bulletin please refer to the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

This section presents statistics covering the financial year ending March 2019 to the financial year ending March 2023. Statistics for the financial year ending March 2024 will be included in the next statistical release.

Statistics in this section are based on POCA agencies that submitted a survey return. Survey findings for the financial year ending March 2023 are based on returns from 25% of agencies that had previously received ARIS funds. This is a slight increase from findings for the financial year ending March 2022, which was based on returns from 20% of agencies that had previously received ARIS funds.

Figure 20: Use of ARIS funds by POCA agencies in receipt of ARIS funding on asset recovery work, crime reduction projects, community projects and miscellaneous projects provided by survey returns from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2023, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: Home Office

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 20 shows the use of ARIS funds based on survey returns submitted by POCA partners to the Home Office. It does not show how all ARIS funds used in each financial year were spent.
2. The miscellaneous category refers to any funds received from ARIS that have been allocated for purposes which fall outside of the other 3 categories presented.
3. Figures represent expenditure in a given year and may not necessarily correspond to the year in which the ARIS allocation was made.
4. Figures for the financial year ending March 2022 have been revised following clarification from some organisations that submitted returns in previous financial years.

For the financial year ending March 2023, 55% of ARIS spend reported in the survey was invested in asset recovery projects (£48.6 million), compared to 68% in the financial year ending March 2022 (£52.3 million). This follows a general downward trend over the last 5 financial years in the proportion spent on asset recovery work, as shown in figure 20. In the financial year ending March 2019 the proportion spent on asset recovery work was 82% compared to 55% in the financial year ending March 2023.

There was an increase in the proportion of reported ARIS spend invested in crime reduction projects, rising from 7% in the financial year ending March 2022 (£5.5 million) to 23% in the financial year ending March 2023 (£20.1 million). This is the highest proportion spent on crime reduction projects in the last 5 financial years.

Survey returns show that 6% of ARIS spend was invested in community projects (£5.1 million) in the financial year ending March 2023. This is a slight increase from the proportion of reported ARIS funds spent on community projects in the previous 4 financial years, which remained relatively stable at 2 to 3%.

The proportion of reported ARIS funds spent on miscellaneous projects decreased slightly from 22% in the financial year ending March 2022 (£17.1 million) to 17% in the financial year ending March 2023 (£15.3 million).

7.3 ARIS Top Slice

The ARIS Top Slice is a competed grant launched in 2015, available to all POCA empowered agencies, to support investment in key national and regional capabilities or to test innovative new approaches to improve asset recovery processes and performance. The funds for the grant come from a small deduction from ARIS receipts prior to their distribution to POCA agencies and the Home Office. Decisions on funding allocations are made by Ministers from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and Attorney General’s Office.

ARIS Top Slice statistics

These statistics are considered as experimental due to the quality of the administrative dataset which has been used in their production. For further information on experimental statistics and data quality please refer to the accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

In the financial year ending March 2022 it was agreed by Ministers to raise the Top Slice budget from £7.5 million (since the financial year ending March 2019) to £13.9 million.

In the financial year ending March 2024, Ministers continued agreement for a Top Slice budget of £13.9 million. Fifteen projects were awarded funding using the Top Slice budget in the financial year ending March 2024. High value funding (£1 million+) was granted to the following projects:

• £2.0 million to NCA to maintain the Joint Asset Recovery Database and helpdesk
• £2.0 million for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to coordinate and deliver Asset Confiscation Enforcement teams in each Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU)
• £1.9 million to deliver a co-ordinated multi-agency cell to tackle illicit assets at the Border, led by Home Office
• £1.3 million for a joint project lead by CPS and NPCC to increase use of civil recovery powers
• £1.7 million to develop the Cybercrime Programme and build cryptocurrency capability, led by the NPCC and Serious Fraud Office
• £1.2 million for the CPS to dedicate a legal team to revisit defendants who have not paid their full criminal benefit from their original confiscation order

In addition, £682,000 was collectively identified in underspends from various Top Slice projects. To utilise this underspend, funds were reallocated to other projects. This reallocated amount uplifted 5 of the 6 projects listed above.

8.International asset recovery

Data is provided by a Home Office administrative database. These statistics are badged as experimental due to the quality of the administrative datasets which have been used to produce them. Supporting information on known data quality issues with the various data sources used in the bulletin for experimental statistics are outlined in the User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics. It should be noted that the Home Office administrative database only holds information on cases where the Home Office has been contacted and there is an asset share, therefore not all international asset recovery is captured.

8.1 International cooperation

This section sets out the value and the volume of proceeds of crime recovered from asset recovery orders from the financial year ending March 2020 to the financial year ending March 2024 that are :

• executed in England and Wales, or Northern Ireland following the receipt of mutual legal assistance request from another country which resulted in an asset share
• executed abroad following the receipt of a mutual legal assistance from England and Wales, and Northern Ireland which resulted in an asset share

In this document, we have defined this as ‘international cooperation’. International cooperation executed in England and Wales, or Northern Ireland is a subset of the asset recovery statistics outlined in previous chapters.

Within this remit of international cooperation, the value and volume of proceeds of crime recovered from grand corruption asset recovery orders are not included. Grand corruption statistics are presented in section 8.2.

The UK engages in asset sharing, which is the division of the funds recovered using asset recovery powers between countries, as a recognition of the joint efforts to recover assets and to encourage further co-operation.

The sharing of confiscated assets is an administrative process between the Home Office and the Government of the requesting or requested country or territory. The usual proportion that is shared is 50:50; however, under certain circumstances the UK may decide to negotiate different proportions, for example, if there are victims involved. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Figure 21: The total value of proceeds of crime recovered via international asset sharing from the financial year ending March 2020 to the financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: Home Office

Notes:

1. Figures presented for ‘Total value of proceeds of crime recovered’ show the full value of proceeds of crime recovered as a result of international cooperation. The ‘Value of proceeds of crime retained by the UK government’ represents the value of proceeds of crime recovered which are retained by the UK government following an asset share.
2. The figures presented for ‘Total value of proceeds of crime recovered’ and the ‘Value of proceeds of crime retained by the UK government’ only capture cases where an asset share has been sought. There might be other international asset recovery cases where asset sharing did not occur that are not captured within the Home Office database and are therefore not recorded.

In the financial year ending March 2024, a total of £5.8 million was recovered through international cooperation where an asset share occurred, a 43% increase from the previous financial year. This marks the highest value recovered since financial year ending March 2020, and is partially due to an increase in high value (above £1 million+) international cooperation cases. This sharp upward tick has fed through to the value of the amount retained by the UK government, with £2.3 million, being retained by the UK government in financial year ending March 2024, the highest amount retained over the last 5 financial years, accounting for 39% of the total value recovered .

Compared to the previous financial year the total value of proceeds of crime retained by the UK government has increased by 104% (from £1.1 million), which is partially attributed to one high value case where recovered funds were shared with the Cayman Islands. Despite there being a 18% decrease in the volume of international cooperation cases compared to the previous financial year, the value is substantially higher. This is partially due to one case in the financial year ending March 2024 which had the highest value of assets realised (£4.5 million) that is reported in this series.

Operational agencies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland have cooperated with the following countries and territories over the relevant 5-year time period: Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Cayman Islands, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Guernsey, Holland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jamaica, Jersey, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the United States of America.

8.2 Grand corruption

These statistics are experimental. The data presented is taken from administrative databases which are managed by the Home Office, supplemented with data requested from agencies in a reporting exercise conducted by the Home Office. The statistics presented will only represent those agencies which have provided a return for this reporting exercise and not necessarily the entire group of agencies who engage in this work. Supporting information on known data quality issues with the various data sources used in the bulletin for experimental statistics are outlined in the User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics.

This section sets out, from financial year ending March 2020 to financial year ending March 2024, the value of:

• proceeds of grand corruption restrained, seized or frozen via criminal mechanisms
• proceeds of grand corruption restrained, seized or frozen via civil mechanisms
• proceeds of grand corruption recovered via criminal mechanisms
• proceeds of grand corruption recovered via civil mechanisms
• proceeds of grand corruption returned to foreign government following UK law enforcement action

Including grand corruption cases that are:

• executed in England and Wales, or Northern Ireland
• executed abroad following receipt of a mutual legal assistance request from England and Wales, and Northern Ireland
• executed in England and Wales or Northern Ireland following the receipt of a mutual legal assistance from another country

The proceeds of grand corruption obtained by POCA orders executed in England and Wales, or Northern Ireland is a subset of the asset denial and asset recovered statistics outlined in previous chapters.

Grand corruption is often defined as acts of corruption involving the misuse or abuse of high-level entrusted power by senior public officials as defined by reference to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). Grand corruption threatens political stability and sustainable development. Acts that might fall into this category include bribery of public or private officials, embezzlement, illicit enrichment, abuse of function or the laundering of the proceeds of crime

Expansion in the data collection and cleansing has been undertaken for this statistical release, this means that the data presented for grand corruption supersedes the data included in previous publications. Care should also be taken when interpreting this data, since some cases have been omitted due to ongoing sensitivities.

Table 1: Proceeds of crime denied via criminal and civil routes from international grand corruption cases.

Financial year	Total value of proceeds of grand corruption denied (civil)	Total value of proceeds of grand corruption denied (criminal)
2019-20	£919,167	£12,500,000
2020-20	£2,242,555	£87,357,000
2021-22	£284,921,275	£48,357,243
2022-23	£246,191,647	£36,875,000
2023-24	£4,500,078	£11,309,956

Source: Home office, NCA ICU, NCA IACCC, SFO and CPS

Notes:

1. Data was not provided prior to the financial year 2019 to 2020 in table 1, due to issues with the quality of data recorded on administrative databases.
2. Table 1, may not include the total value of the proceeds of grand corruption since there may be other agencies that have completed grand corruption work that has not been captured in this exercise.
3. The value of proceeds of grand corruption denied refers to those restrained, seized, frozen or using other mechanisms to stop an individual accessing their assets.

The value of proceeds of grand corruption denied is based on the estimated order value (restraint orders), finalised order amount (AFOs, cash seizures and listed assets) and estimated value of assets (prohibition orders) In the financial year ending March 2024, the total value of the proceeds of grand corruption denied via criminal mechanisms was £11.3 million, which is a 69% decrease compared to the previous financial year (£36.9 million). The value denied criminally in the financial year ending March 2024 was 71% lower than the 5-year average (£39.3 million) for this reporting period. Since the peak (£87.4 million) of proceeds of grand corruption denied criminally in financial year ending March 2021, there has been a steady decline.

Since the financial year ending March 2020, £538.8 million has been denied via civil mechanisms. However there has been a substantial drop in the value denied in the latest financial year, with only £4.5 million being denied, compared to £246.2 million being denied in the financial year ending March 2023 . Denials via civil mechanisms in financial years ending March 2022 and March 2023, were also exceptionally high. This was mostly driven by several prohibition orders which totalled £497.1 million across these 2 financial years.

A prohibition order can be granted in relation to relevant property in England and Wales or Northern Ireland which is the subject of an external request from another country or jurisdiction. Further information on the legislative background and system process for proceeds of crime under POCA can be found in the Background Information Note.

In April 2022, a Prohibition Order processed by the NCA for £228 million was granted by the High Court acting under a request from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), who are pursuing assets which are suspected to be or represent the proceeds of the multi-billion Malaysian Development Board (1MDB) fraud against the Malaysian Government.

The total value of the proceeds of grand corruption recovered in the financial year ending March 2024 was £5.5 million. This includes:

• £5.4 million recovered via confiscation orders
• £83,000 recovered via civil mechanisms

Table 2: Proceed of crime recovered via civil and criminal route from international grand corruption cases.

Financial year	Total value of proceeds of grand corruption recovered (civil)	Total value of proceeds of grand corruption recovered (criminal)
2019-20	£139,174,672	£7,373,000
2020-21	£415,895	£2,649,959
2021-22	£54,080,051	£0
2022-23	£2,002,785	£93,609,541
2023-24	£82,701	£5,439,021

Source: Home office, NCA ICU, NCA IACCC, SFO and CPS

Notes:

1. The value of proceeds of grand corruption recovered is based on the total proceeds of crime recovered from forfeiture orders, confiscation orders, civil recovery orders and settlements
2. Data was not provided prior to the financial year 2019 to 2020 in table 2, due to issues with the quality of data recorded on administrative databases
3. Table 2 may not include the total value of the proceeds of grand corruption since there may be other agencies that have completed grand corruption work that has not been captured in this exercise.

Compared to the financial year ending March 2023 the value recovered by criminal mechanisms in the financial year ending March 2024, has decreased by 94% from £93.6 million to £5.4 million. However, the large value recovered in the financial year ending March 2023 is mostly due to £93.5 million being recovered from a confiscation order by the SFO, which is the largest confiscation order recorded within this statistical series. The value recovered by criminal mechanisms in the financial year ending March 2024 is in line with the value recovered in other financial years reported in this series (excluding the financial year ending March 2023).

Within the financial year ending March 2024, £83,000 was recovered via civil mechanisms, which is the lowest value reported within this series, this is partially due to a decrease in the volume of cases and a decrease in high value cases (£1 million+). In contrast in the financial year ending March 2020, £139.2 million was recovered via civil means.

Asset return

Asset return refers to the process by which the proceeds of corruption are returned to their prior legitimate owner or to compensate the victims of the crime. The UK, as a signatory to the UN Convention Against Corruption is obligated to return funds where the conditions for mandatory return are met; however, the UK also exercises its discretion to return funds in appropriate cases when it is not otherwise mandated (in line with Article 57(3)(c) of the Convention). The UK’s process for returning assets is set out in the UK’s Framework for transparent and accountable asset return.

Figure 22: The total value of proceeds of grand corruption returned to foreign countries from the financial year ending March 2020 to the financial year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, NCA, SFO, CPS

Notes:

1. The figures presented only capture cases where data has been provided by agencies and the Home Office database, there may be grand corruption cases that are not captured and are therefore not recorded.
2. The value of proceeds of grand corruption returned to foreign government is based on the total amount transferred to the foreign state and presented in the financial year the funds were transferred.
3. A substantial proportion of the proceeds of grand corruption returned to foreign government will relate to proceeds of grand corruption restrained, seized or frozen in previous financial years. Proceeds of grand corruption that were restrained or seized may be subsequently released or returned to the individual if their legitimacy is subsequently proven.

For the financial year ending March 2024, there were no proceeds of crime returned to foreign governments via Home Office. This is in contrast to the previous financial year where £211,000 was returned. Within this, £211,000 was paid out in compensation under the terms of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement agreed between AMEC Foster Wheeler Energy Limited and the SFO on 1 July 2021 (the ‘Deferred Prosecution Agreement’). The Federal Government of Nigeria was granted compensation as part of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, which noted that the compensation “shall be deployed for the benefit of the citizens of Nigeria in a manner that is accountable and transparent”. The Home Office agreed a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Federal Government of Nigeria to meet this requirement. Details on the transfer, including how the funds will be spent, are set out in an Memorandum of Understanding signed by the UK and Nigeria in February 2022.

For asset returns where the proceeds of grand corruption have been agreed to be returned in principle but are yet to be transferred, see the following cases:

• £66,000 will be returned to Kuwait following the recovery of proceeds of grand corruption by the Metropolitan Police Service in the financial year ending March 2021
• £1.2 million will be returned to Brazil following an investigation carried out by the SFO in 2020

Notes:

1. The Deferred Prosecution Agreement and MOU were agreed in financial year ending March 2022, however the funds were not returned to Nigeria until June 2022.

2. Proceeds of grand corruption denied refers to, assets that are frozen or seized, restrained or using other mechanisms that stop the respondent from accessing their assets.

Users should note figures presented for proceeds of grand corruption restrained, seized and frozen relate to ongoing investigations which means no further information can be shared. These cases have been identified at an early stage in the process as cases where agencies intelligence suspects assets derive from grand corruption cases involving foreign states.

9. Annexes

9.1 Annex A: Modern slavery data

Modern slavery data is published as a distinct subset of data, where the main related criminal offence type is modern slavery. It has been provided to support the Modern Slavery Annual Report released in November 2021 .

Value of assets restrained and recovered

There were £854,000 of modern slavery-related proceeds of crime recovered from confiscation orders and forfeiture orders in the financial year ending March 2024.

Of these:

• £266,000 was recovered from confiscation orders receipts, a 69% decrease from £845,000 in the previous financial year

• £588,000 was recovered from forfeiture orders receipts, a 115% increase from £274,000 in the previous financial year

From the financial years ending March 2019 to March 2023 modern slavery-related proceeds of crime that were recovered remained relatively stable, however the latest financial year saw a substantial drop in recoveries (22% lower than the average for the last 6-financial years), reaching their lowest value of recoveries. The decrease in confiscation order receipts and the corresponding increase in forfeiture order receipts resulted in a move away from the typical trend of confiscation order receipts being the main source of recoveries.

There were £750,000 restrained from restraint orders in the financial year ending March 2024, an 80% decrease from £3.7 million in the previous financial year. However, this was due to a peak in assets restrained in the financial year ending March 2023 caused by one high value order (£1 million+) that made up 81% of the total amount of modern slavery related restraint orders that year. These figures represent a longer-term downward trend in restraint orders since the financial year ending March 2019 with the latest financial year seeing a 71% decrease from the financial year ending March 2019.

Confiscation order imposition saw a 64% increase from £1.0 million in the financial year ending March 2023 to £1.6 million in the financial year ending March 2024 . This is partially due to a £1.1 million confiscation imposition which accounted for 68% of total impositions within the latest financial year. This continues the upwards trend seen in confiscation order impositions since the financial year ending March 2021.

Figure 23: The value of proceeds of crime restrained and recovered through restraint orders, confiscation orders and forfeitures receipts where the main related criminal offence type is modern slavery from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

Notes:

1. Data presented in figure 23 shows the value of proceeds of crime recovered (confiscation orders and forfeiture orders) and restrained (restraint orders).
2. Confiscation order receipts include payments received from the defendant on any outstanding confiscation orders which means it can include payments linked to a confiscation order imposition in the current financial year and previous ones.
3. Forfeiture order receipts include the proceeds of crime recovered at the end of an investigation from the respondent. It includes proceeds of crime recovered on any outstanding forfeiture order which means proceeds recovered could be linked to a seizure from a previous financial year.
4. Restraint orders include the proceeds of crime that are restrained and cannot be accessed by the defendant whilst confiscation proceedings and enforcement are ongoing. Restraint is an optional power and not all proceeds of crime recovered at the end of the criminal proceedings will have been subject to a restraint order earlier in the process.

Volume of assets restrained and recovered

In the financial year ending March 2024, there were 27 forfeiture orders granted for crimes related to modern slavery, down from the previous financial year where there were 28 orders. The number of restraint orders have also decreased with both the financial years ending March 2023 and March 2024 having less than 10 cases reported.

Figure 24: The volume of proceeds of crime restrained and recovered through restraint orders and forfeiture orders receipts where the offence is modern slavery from the financial year ending March 2019 until financial year ending March 2024, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland

Source: JARD

As figure 24 shows, the number of forfeiture orders for cases related to modern slavery has fluctuated over the last 6-financial years whilst the number of restraint orders have declined consistently since the financial year ending March 2019. The volume of confiscation order receipts is not reported because it is not meaningful, this is because confiscation orders can have multiple payments against one singular order and does not directly link to orders imposed within the reporting period.

10. About these Statistics

Future releases of this statistical publication are pre-announced on the statistics release calendar on the GOV.UK website. The accompanying User Guide to Asset Recovery Statistics provides information on the different data sources used and the processes for this statistical release, as well as other statistical information about the Bulletin.

Tables and Data

Asset Recovery Statistics, financial years ending 2019 to 2024: Data tables provides 6-year time-series data for each POCA Power, ARIS allocations, data collected by the Home Office on the use of ARIS and proceeds of crime from international cooperation .

Feedback

Home Office is keen to receive feedback on its statistical publications to maintain their relevance for users.

Any feedback should be directed to the Asset Recovery Performance team through email: POCAPerformance@homeoffice.gov.uk

Press enquiries for this release should be directed to telephone number: 0300 123 3535.

Other enquiries on these statistics should be directed by email to: CriminalFinancesandAssetRecoveryUnit@homeoffice.gov.uk