ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at financial investigation and the role of the financial investigator. It explains the nature of their work, the legislative framework they operate within and the advantages they can bring to most if not all investigations. The chapter looks at the issue of calculating the benefit of crime and how financial investigation can be used to identify assets derived from crime and ultimately see them confiscated or forfeited in both criminal and civil proceedings. The legislation called for the establishment of the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) and its director was afforded the statutory powers to train, accredit and monitor those individuals seeking to become financial investigators. Information obtained from the Land Registry is not exclusive to the financial investigator, but nevertheless extremely useful in many investigations. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) provides the accredited investigator with a number of useful powers to carry out proactive and covert investigations.
