Summit held to tackle illicit trade

Law enforcement and industry partners are to gather in Edinburgh this morning to map out their approach to tackling illicit trade throughout Scotland. 
 
The summit, which is to be attended by Police Scotland, HMRC and Trading Standards among others, will consider the impact illicit e-commerce is having on business, consumers and communities. 
 
Discussion will also focus on how to maximise returns under proceeds of crime legislation, in particular Schedule 4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) which covers 'criminal lifestyle offences' that can trigger confiscation proceedings.
 
Current estimates place the cost of illicit trade and intellectual property crime, in terms of lost profits and taxes to the UK economy, to be in the region of £1.3bn per year 
 
“It [Poca] is an effective tool in order to dissuade individuals from getting involved in that sort of crime of illicit trading, etc,” Detective Inspector Garry Deans, of Police Scotland’s specialist crime division, told Holyrood. 
 
“But also anecdotally – because I deal with proceeds of crime right across the spectrum, particularly in relation to what's covered under Schedule 4, which includes drug trafficking, money laundering, and so on – I know that criminals have an eye on proceeds of crime and sometimes they’ve got more fear of that than they do have of custodial sentences.”