Structure

The City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate (ECD) consists of the following areas:

• Fraud Squad
• Money Laundering Investigation Unit
• Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit
• Fraud Intelligence Development Team (FIDT)
• Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit

Fraud Squad

This area forms the 'core' of the ECD and investigates what could be described as the 'traditional' fraud offences such as banking frauds, insurance frauds, investment frauds, insider dealing frauds, advance fee frauds and Internet frauds, amongst others.

A Detective Inspector heads each team who take it in turn on a weekly basis to act as the 'Duty Squad' and they form the immediate response to any calls received concerning new fraud cases. Each team has a number of officers who are nominated as those who will work on SFO cases as required. These officers need to be experience officers in fraud investigation as well as general detective work. They will be expected to provide advice and assistance on policing matters to the SFO. Fraud Squad teams also provide assistance and training to the FSA on matters such as arrests, interviewing and executing search warrants.

Money Laundering Investigation Unit (MLIU)

This unit is made up of officers who are accredited financial investigators, qualifying them to carry out confiscation proceedings on criminal assets.

The department acts as the Force Single Point of Contact for Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) made by the financial sector.

The MLIU will carry out proactive investigations into money laundering offences, based on intelligence received from a variety of sources. Such sources include the SAR reports submitted from a variety of sources. Such sources include the SAR report submitted by the financial sector, follow up enquiries from existing criminal cases, intelligence from other law enforcement agencies and from overseas.

Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU)

The DCPCU investigates cheque and plastic card crime at a cross border and national level. The unit was set up in partnership with UK Payments Administration and the British Bankers' Association in 2002 as a 2 year pilot project. Owing to its spectacular success the unit is now permanently established. It is made up of City Police and Metropolitan Police officers, with investigators and case support staff provided by the banking industry. The types of crime investigated are similar to those looked at by the Cheque Squad, but the emphasis is more related to identifying and tackling the organised elements of this activity. The DCPCU bases much of its work on intelligence led policing, with cases being built around initial intelligence received.

Fraud Intelligence Development Team (FIDT)

The FIDT aim to support the application of the National Intelligence Model by receiving and recording intelligence on all aspects of economic crime with ECD. They disseminate intelligence and provide a liaison point with other intelligence departments in the City and beyond. They have access to Experian and Equifax and contacts for a variety of organisations.

Overseas Anti-corruption unit

The unit consists of a Detective Superintendent, a Detective Inspector, two Detective Sergeants and six Detective Constables all experienced officers from the City of London Police Economic Crime Department.

Additionally the unit will work closely with Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opens in a new window, who in order to meet the demands of investigating overseas corruption have formed a small team working under the Deputy Director. This team will be responsible for maintaining the register of all allegations of bribery or corruption of overseas officials by British persons and companies.  This will include assessing each allegation and if an investigation is merited, participating in the allocation of cases to the investigative agency best suited and resourced to deal with it.