Economic and Specialist Crime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Economic and Specialist Crime is an Operational Command Unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service which deals with fraud investigation and prevention, as well as a wide range of other crimes which require special knowledge and training to investigate.
Formerly known as the Fraud Squad (or by the Specialist Operations designation SO6).
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[edit] History
The unit was formed in 1946, and was originally known as the Metropolitan and City Police Company Fraud Department (C6 Branch). It was the first fully-integrated co-operative unit set up between the City of London Police (with their expertise in business and stock market fraud) and the Metropolitan Police (with their investigative experience).
The increasing complexity of business fraud, and hence the lessened chances of securing a successful prosecution, saw the setting up in 1987 of the Serious Fraud Office. As this time, the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police reverted to having their own Fraud Squads - the Met's was then called SO6. Staffed by about 140 detectives, specialised teams within the Squad included the Commercial Crimes Intelligence Bureau, a Financial Investigations Unit, the Fraud Prevention Office, a Surveillance Unit, a Crime Management Unit and a fledgling Computer Crime Unit.
In October 2000, the Fraud Squad was renamed Economic and Specialist Crime as part of the Specialist Crime Directorate, and its remit was expanded substantially to cover a wider range of financial and economic crime and fraud. Several other autonomous units, such as the Arts and Antiquities Squad, were merged with the new unit. The Money Laundering Investigation Team (MLIT) formed in 2003 has a remit to deal with high level Money Launderers and also are active in removing substantial amounts of criminal cash from the Organised Criminal Networks working in and around London.
[edit] Structure
The Economic and Specialist Crime OCU is made up of several teams and sub-units:
- Fraud Teams
- Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit
- Money Laundering Investigation Team
- Financial Investigation Development Units
- Specialist Crime Operations Team
- Stolen Vehicle Unit
- Arts and Antiques Unit
- Computer Crime Unit
- Wildlife Crime Unit
- Extradition and International Assistance Unit
- Criminal Justice Protection Unit
- Regional Asset Recovery Team
