Supreme Court grants order confiscating £1.7m in money-laundering probe

The Supreme Court has granted the confiscation order for over £1.7million in cash as part of a money-laundering investigation against the tobacco wholesaler, SouthEase Ltd.

This order has come about following an investigation by the Royal Gibraltar Police’s Money Laundering Investigation Unit following the €1.5million robbery at the SouthEase Ltd premises in New Harbours in June 2017.

The company was also ordered to pay a further £450,000 to cover the costs of forensic accountants that had been contracted to assist with the investigation.

The funds will be confiscated by the court and dealt with by an Official Receiver appointed by the court, with the funds going to the Government of Gibraltar, the RGP said in a statement on Wednesday.

The RGP spokesman added: “This was a great result and a vindication of the unit’s hard work and dedication over a number of years.”

It said that together with assistance from the Office of Criminal Prosecution and Litigation, it will use “all the powers available to them to remove the proceeds of crime from persons involved in criminality whether through criminal or civil courts”.

“This order will show the international community that Gibraltar takes money laundering seriously and is willing to tackle it head on,” the RGP spokesman added.