DI Ali Eaton

Found at the back of the book shelf, the ingredients required...

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:17:21 -0400

Found at the back of the book shelf, the ingredients required for the pills!!!

This is the pill-making machine found in the lounge!

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:04:20 -0400

This is the pill-making machine found in the lounge!

"Caught Red-Handed" and not the TV programme!

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:01:58 -0400

“Caught Red-Handed” and not the TV programme!

There are ups and downs in our job, as in any other job. Executing a successful warrant is certainly one of those lofty occasions, particularly after a detailed investigation. The second high is a successful conviction.

Towards the end of last year my team went into a house in Saltdean with a drugs warrant and interrupted 2 males and a female at the house who were in the process of making about 7,000 ecstasy pills. There was dust everywhere, all the equipment and raw materials, including a large pill-making machine on the lounge floor!

After searches in the garage and their vehicles 55g of high purity cocaine, 1270 Diazepam tablets, 2kg Ketamine, multiple kilos of cutting agent and £41,000 cash were seized.

An interesting cookery lesson!

Paul Bulford, Gavin McCall and Worms all pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown court in March to offences of producing a controlled drug, possessing a controlled drug with intent to supply and Proceeds of Crime offences. They were sentenced to 9 years, 8 years and 12 months in prison respectively. A successful conviction, another high point in the life of SOCU officers and an excellent conclusion to a good investigation.

The message is that we continue to actively target those involved in the drugs trade!

The picture below is the dining room table at the house and shows the pill making operation in full flow!

I am pleased Scott and Bailey is back for a second series..BUT…they are always smoking and drinking and the reality is that we spend all our time running, swimming and biking..yes really!!! (When we are not working of course!)

Photo

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:36:37 -0400

Dining Table in the lounge of property with pills, scales and powders. The Pill Press can be seen on the floor of the lounge behind the table.

Book case in the study of property. The back of it stores more than just books.

Behind the book case. Cash, Cocaine and Drug Adulterants.

Behind the book case. A shoe box containing £13,500 in cash, some of the £32,000 seized from the address.

Pill Press capable of producing around 5400 tablets an hour. The hose of a Henry Vacuum is visible on the right of the image. The producers were likely vacuuming up debris powder and re-using it to ma

A message I continue to reinforce

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:28:14 -0400

A message I continue to reinforce

Gurdip Singh, 37 years from Leicestershire headed up the...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:59:02 -0500

Gurdip Singh, 37 years from Leicestershire headed up the organised crime group and controlled all the bank accounts. Singh received a total of 7 years 7 months imprisonment for these crimes and other similar fraud offences.

We have locked up another Organised Crime Group.

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 03:07:05 -0500

The gang of five males was involved in a fraud of over 2 million pounds stolen from Sussex University. The gang members were sentenced to a total of 16 years 7 months in prison, which is as a result of a 2-year joint investigation by our Money Laundering Team and the East Midlands Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART).

During the latter part of 2010 Sussex University was having new student accommodation being built. The work was being undertaken by a Manchester based construction company and involved a multi million pound contract. Payment was sent via an electronic transfer on a monthly basis.

However, when the university received a forged invoice they subsequently made a payment of over 2 million pounds into bank accounts controlled by Gurdip Singh from Leicester. Singh had set up a false construction business in the name of Balecourt Ltd. The university believed they were paying the Manchester Construction Company.

There is no doubt that Singh was the principle member of this organized Crime Group, but also involved in the crime were Singh’s business partner Hamel Bakrania from Leicester, Dennis Francis from Loughborough, Ohazurume from London and Andrew Wormstone, a Leeds based solicitor.

It was not until the Manchester firm queried the lack of payments from the university that the fraud was discovered and the lengthy investigation codenamed Court and convicted earlier this month.Operation Theta, commenced.

Singh pleaded guilty on 4^th December 2012, but his four co-accused denied being involved in the fraud and money laundering crimes. They were tried at Leicester Crown

Another great result for DS Mick Richards and DC Nigel Tillings. Through their hard work and effective partnership with the East Midlands RART, a highly orgainised national criminal operation has been smashed and the main members of the group now serving substantial prison sentences. Time for a well deserved drink!

Direct Entry: You cannot be serious!

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:17:17 -0500

We in the police are facing many new challenges at the moment and there still remains that air of uncertainty. However, what is constant and not changing at all is the criminals committing crimes and a lot of the crimes remain the same, theft, burglary, drug supply, assaults of varying degree to name a few. Some criminals (not all) are also getting more sophisticated and I see this in the work of my teams in fraud, cyber-crime and other organized crime methodology. We therefore need an experienced and skilled police force to tackle all these types of criminals.

My point: experience and skill is developed and learnt and police leaders are promoted through the ranks, enhancing their knowledge as they go. This is British policing.

How will direct recruitment to superintendent achieve this? You cannot replace accumulated knowledge of policing, both frontline and detective; no training can replace first hand operational experience and understanding.

Promotion is getting harder to achieve and due to the reduced senior ranks, so competitive. Our morale will be dented further if most of these cherished posts are given to the direct entry banker, supermarket manager, company director, etc.!!

In a recent Policy Exchange report – ‘Policing 2020: policing in next 10 years’ I noticed the proposal to set up Citizen Police Academies to train the public on how to play their part in the fight against crime! There will be courses on how to citizen arrest safely and how to avoid danger……hmmmm!!! Any takers?!

More on Alistair Stewart the Fraudster! This case just shows...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:08:00 -0500

More on Alistair Stewart the Fraudster!

This case just shows that we never stop investigating! If you remember on previous blogs in December the Stewart investigation unfolded and he was finally convicted to five and a half years in prison. Well his offending just did not stop whilst he was on bail.

At one of the court hearings Stewart did not turn up and told the court he was not appearing as he was at the Priory Clinic, a private clinic dealing with addictions. We never take things on face value, first we believed it was just another one of his delay tactics and second…how could he afford this??!!!

The answer…he couldn’t! We contacted The Priory and asked them how Stewart was paying for his stay. It turns out he was using credit cards he had got by using false details, stating he had his own property and an annual income of £600 000!! He had already run up a debt of £14 000.

Stewart was later sentenced to a further 6 months in prison for these two extra frauds.

Going back to The Old Bailey, DS Mick Richards spoke to one of Stewart’s victims who went to hear the sentencing. Andrew had been promised a job by Stewart as a private airline pilot, flying him around the world. All lies of course, which Andrew only found out after he had given up the job he had been in to work for Stewart. He ended up with nothing.

You really have to be made of stern stuff not to let it affect you too much and that comes from over 20 years in the police! Reading about the sad lives that some have endured and their sudden brutal deaths is difficult but I just stay focused on the job, knowing that what we do will help prevent future domestic murders.

Criminal’s cash handed over to Crimestoppers. Yesterday I...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:35:35 -0500

Criminal’s cash handed over to Crimestoppers.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of handing over a cheque for £5000 to Carolyn Randall, the Area Manager of Sussex crimestoppers.

My team of dedicated Financial Investigators work alongside conventional investigation and undertake cash forfeitures and confiscation investigations on Sussex criminals and members of Organised Crime Groups to ensure that these criminals pay back the cash equivalent of their benefits from crime. The Proceeds Of Crime Act (POCA) is a great tool to strip offenders of their assets and plough it back into our fight against crime.

Whilst it can hurt to go to prison, it really does hurt far more to hit them in the pocket and stop them in their tracks! An absolute pleasure for us of course!!!

Carolyn Randall said ” We are absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with Sussex police and to receive such a generous donation from the Sussex police POCA fund. Last year Sussex Crimestoppers received more than 2000 actionable calls which helped the police solve crime in the community”.

If you have any information about crime and want to stay anonymous please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or go online towww.crimestoppers.uk.org.

Domestic Homicide Reviews

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:07:21 -0500

I went up to the Home Office yesterday as I sit on the multi-agency National Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) Quality Assurance Panel. The reason I am involved in this is because a couple of years ago I had a four month secondment working in the Home Office to produce the National DHR guidance. An amazing opportunity, working with such a variety of agencies, bringing us all together for the one purpose of learning the lessons from domestic homicides so we can better safeguard and protect victims.

DHRs are about improving the way in which we work both individually and collectively as organisations. Establishing if there are lessons that could be learnt form the case, how they will be acted on and what is expected to change as a result.

It is important to remember that domestic violence is often repeated by the perpetrator and the violence also escalates over time. A domestic violence incident, which results in the death of the victim are very rarely a first attack. Many people and agencies may have known of these attacks, including psychological and emotional abuse; neighbors, family, GPs, housing, hospitals, police to name a few. Where there missed opportunities and can we all learn to help prevent these awful crimes?

Back to yesterday, freezing train and even colder meeting room at the Home Office. I think they are saving money by turning their heating down!

As a QA panel, we are both statutory and voluntary agencies and victim family representatives, chaired by the Home Office. We assess report standards across the country as well as identify good and poor practice and training needs. We went through seven completed reviews, all from different parts of the country. All horrific crimes, involving violent murders and some in front of young children.

You really have to be made of stern stuff not to let it affect you too much and that comes from over 20 years in the police! Reading about the sad lives that some have endured and their sudden brutal deaths is difficult but I just stay focused on the job, knowing that what we do will help prevent future domestic murders.

Our Major Fraud Team receiving their outstanding investigator...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:43:00 -0500

Our Major Fraud Team receiving their outstanding investigator award from the Dep, they convicted 23 defendants for fraud totalling over £10 million!

Award for Major Fraud Team

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:08:04 -0500

The Deputy Chief Constable presented an Outstanding Investigator Award to our hard working Major Fraud Team at our Awards Ceremony on Wednesday.

Chris Neilson (ECU DI) and myself put forward our Major Fraud Team as often their work goes on unnoticed and we thought it was about time to promote and acknowledge their commitment and expertise.

The Team, led by DS Sally Smith has undertaken a series of complex fraud investigations involving significant financial loss to many victims due to highly organsied criminal activity across national and international law enforcement jurisdiction.

I have previously mentioned some of these excellent investigations; they include Peckover, Greening and Roberts.

You cannot underestimate the work and detail that goes into these cases, but the results speak for themselves-

The Team has convicted 23 defendants of fraud offences totaling in excess of £10 million over the last 18 months…….. beat that visible policing on the beat!!

When you measure dedication and commitment to the job, well, Detective Constable James Whiley missed our ECU Christmas meal to see Gary Roberts convicted and sentenced to 4 ½ years at Chichester Crown Court! (And what a good meal he missed…. not wanting to rub it in!)

Roberts had not only repeatedly defrauded financial institutes in excess of £350 000 by opening accounts with fake identification, pretending to be a successful businessman, but he also befriended vulnerable women to get money from them. He had 44 separate bank accounts.

It is always important to take time out to appreciate hard work and such amazing results from a small team of 5 detectives.

Well done to Sally, James, Des, Dave and Val.

Christmas Cheer

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 07:13:25 -0500

As we follow through the Alastair Stewart case, I wanted to share this email with you as it epitomises the positive effects our work can have for victims of crime. I have said many times previously, this is the most rewarding part of our job.

Victims are at the heart of our work and cases like this make the years of difficult and often frustrating investigations worth it!

It is not just about ‘locking away’ the criminals but also supporting their victims, helping them put the crimes behind them and improving their lives.

DS Mick Richards called Nina from court on 19^th December to tell her the result - Stewart was going to prison for 5 ½ years.

Hi Mick & Nicola,

Just wanted to say I had such a wonderful day after you called on the 19th. I took my daughter swimming, we baked gingerbread, and there were lots of kids over and activities and it was just a really great day.

I also slept better than I had in a long long time that night, and the fear I was still harbouring has totally dissipated.

Can’t thank you enough again for a job incredibly well done! I am truly grateful for every step. I know you have many other cases and the job isn’t over but I hope you get some well-deserved downtime over Christmas and New Year’s

Warmest regards and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Nina

The Voice of a Victim

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:19:47 -0500

Following on from my blog on 28^th November about the successful conclusion to a 2-year fraud investigation, Alastair Stewart, 53yrs, from Burgess Hill was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison at the Old Bailey yesterday, despite credit for a guilty plea.

Stewart had posed as a wealthy businessman and financier and conned over £650 000 from Nina Siegenthaler out in the Turks & Caicos Islands. She fell for his charms and persuasive nature and allowed him to supposedly invest her savings, which he actually spent on living a life of luxury.

Stewart caused Nina, the victim, immense psychological as well as financial harm

Nina could not bring herself to come to court in the end but gave us her victim personal statement through this video blog. She wanted her ordeal to be a warning to others. She describes how violated she felt and how Stewart had turned her life upside down by his lies and deceit.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBFjOBY9OI

There were four other victims who were in the process of being conned by Stewart in a similar way and they were at court with DS Mick Richards to see the sentencing.

Without victims like Nina coming forward and helping us with our investigation and prosecution we would not be able to convict such predatory criminals like Stewart. Nina has helped us remove him from society and stop him moving on to his next victim.

DS Mick Richards and DC Nicola Balkham have both worked hard on this investigation and I know that the most important aspect for them was helping Nina see justice done so she can move forward in her life.

Lesson 2 - Be aware of the height that mature cannabis plants...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:26:34 -0500

Lesson 2 - Be aware of the height that mature cannabis plants can grow to!
Our response to illegal drugs continues to be focussed particularly on the criminals involved in organised crime, trafficking and dealing, to tackle local and national drug crime.

We know that rarely is a cannabis factory independent, smaller factories often make up a network with many connections nationally and are a link in the serious and organised crime chain.

How professional are we in out lab coats… how do you grow this...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:48:03 -0500

How professional are we in out lab coats… how do you grow this cannabis again?

Soft Drugs – Hard Crime

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 04:06:00 -0500

Organised cannabis cultivation was one a fairly small-scale form of criminal behaviour, but has become a tough criminal world of extremely large profits and low risks for the criminals.

We need to deal with the organisations behind cannabis cultivation.

We arranged some training around drug investigations a few weeks ago. I am a strong advocate of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for all areas of policing. As the criminals get more sophisticated, so must we!

In our training day we considered the equipment needed to set up a factory, which includes lights, filtration systems, timers, temperature controls, cooling fans……sounds like I am giving a lesson on how to start your own cannabis cultivation factory!!

During the day we studied the different types of plants and looked at the growth stages, from seed to a mature plant in only 12 weeks.

We examined how ‘the grows’ are cropped and dried and how the resin is produced. A fascinating day and now my team are extremely well prepared to dismantle a factory, obtain the necessary evidence, identify the offenders and successfully prosecute.

They thought it was all over...........it is now!

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:34:00 -0500

They thought that it was all over (when they were sent to prison)..……well it is now after the final Proceeds of Crime (POCA) hearing at Birmingham Crown Court 2 weeks ago, where the six main defendants had more than a quarter of a million pounds of their criminal assets confiscated as a result of an extremely complex and detailed confiscation investigation.

My team of Financial Investigators work very closely with CPS and the Courts to hit the defendants in the pocket. Our work is to take the profit out of crime and to ensure that the crime does not pay!

Asif Khan, Mohsin Raja, Nazir Ahmed, Imran Rafiq, Daniel Myers and Shouel Karim were part of an organized crime group from Crawley involved in a major drug distribution network. They were all successfully convicted last year after a long focused operation and sentenced to a total of 37 years in prison between them for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

However, our work did not stop there. A determined financial investigation and contested confiscation applications continued over the following year and resulted in 6 confiscation orders totalling £252 466.21

These Confiscation Orders are a great tool to strip offenders of their assets. The criminals’ money is then ploughed back into the fight against drugs. The orders make the offenders pay back the cash equivalent of their benefit from the crime, sometimes meaning they have to sell off their homes, cars and other luxury items such as jewellery, acquired through a criminal lifestyle..….such rewarding work for us!!

We will shortly be looking for suitable community projects or initiates to fund by using the confiscated money, a proportion of which is returned to us by the Home Office.

Detention or Prevention

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:39:48 -0500

The story of our success with Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPO) is told through my blogs in July and 23^rd October and today……..

These SCPOs are preventative, restrictive and disruptive tools that we are using to help us monitor persistent and serious organized criminals. The conditions we put in the orders do restrict a person’s life but they are proportionate and necessary to help us in preventing continued criminal activity by the subjects.

Our implementation of these orders in Sussex is demonstrated through the case of Alasatir (now William) Peckover, a 23 year old from Crawley.

Peckover took only a few months to breach his SCPO and was sentenced at Brighton Crown Court on 29^th November to three years in prison, more than his original sentence. This was his fourth conviction in just over four years of complex Internet based hacking frauds, using different identities and defrauding individual people as well as companies.

At the court Judge Tanzer said “I believe that I will see you again in the future due to your gambling addiction and the temptation to use your computer skills to cheat which will be hard to resist due to your character”.

So off Peckover goes to prison yet again and will the Judge be proved right or will Peckover change his compulsive criminal ways? What help will he get in prison to prevent him coming out yet again to offend for the fifth time? Will it make any difference? I think it will.

No more from me today as I am off to our team Christmas do……