Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

From: Crown Office

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service News Release

24 January 2012

 

SIGNIFICANT PROCEEDS OF CRIME VICTORY

Scottish Ministers v Stirton & Anderson

 

Lady Stacey has today issued her opinion in a long-running civil recovery case involving Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson.

The Scottish Ministers alleged in the Court of Session that Mr Stirton and Mr Anderson held property which had been obtained through unlawful conduct, in particular: involvement in the importation of controlled drugs and a handgun; involvement in unlawful conduct evidenced by possession of a large quantity of cash in circumstances redolent of involvement in controlled drugs; extortion of money from a taxi firm; laundering of money by buying cars using cash obtained from unlawful conduct; obtaining money for the resale of the cars, and laundering money by developing a filling station using money obtained from unlawful conduct, operating and ultimately selling the filling station; and fraud on lending institutions by falsely declaring income and ownership of assets.

Lady Stacey has decided that property sought by the Scottish Ministers, including Mr Stirton and Mr Anderson's family homes and other assets (independently valued in 2009 at over ?900,000) were obtained through crime of the types described. Lady Stacey will pronounce a formal order transferring ownership of the property to a person nominated by the Scottish Ministers who will sell the property and remit the proceeds to the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

Paragraph 26 of Lady Stacey's opinion states:

"I have found that Mr Stirton was present when controlled drugs and a hand gun were imported into Dover from Calais in 1997, in circumstances which prove he was involved in the importation. Mr Stirton and Mr Anderson were found to have a large amount of cash in a car on the M74 in 2000, in circumstances from which I infer that they were involved in some capacity in the supplying of controlled drugs or other contraband or the laundering of cash."

Paragraph 33 of Lady Stacey's opinion states:

"I have found that the purchase of Skodas for cash was money laundering, and that payment by Spring Radio Cars of a non commercial interest in respect of them was achieved by intimidation of the directors of Spring Radio Cars."

Paragraph 37 of Lady Stacey's opinion states:

"The houses bought by Mr and Mrs Stirton were obtained by mortgage fraud. The house owned by Miss Leonard [Mr Anderson's partner] was obtained by mortgage fraud. The loan secured over Thompson's Bar was obtained by fraud. The various insurance policies and investments held by Mr Stirton and Mrs Stirton, excluding child benefit, were paid for by money acquired by unlawful conduct."

Paragraph 437 of Lady Stacey's opinion states:

"I find that unlawful conduct consisting of extortion of money from the business Spring Radio Cars took place."

Speaking of the case Ruaraidh Macniven, Head of Civil Recovery Unit, said:

"I welcome Lady Stacey's careful and detailed opinion in this long-running case.

"Her Ladyship's decision vindicates the assessment of the Civil Recovery Unit that Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson hold property which was obtained through a variety of serious crimes, including extortion, fraud, involvement in the supplying of controlled drugs or other contraband and the laundering of cash. Those crimes have a destructive impact on individuals and businesses in Scotland and it is important that all of the available tools, including civil recovery, are used to tackle those who seek to profit through them.

"The CRU does not shy away from difficult and complex cases which can take some time to resolve. Our focus is on both the disruption of crime and depriving criminals of their assets.

"In this case the CRU has shown that we are determined to disrupt crime and to ensure that any proceeds of crime are recovered and put to good use in our communities."

Chief Supt Wayne Mawson, of Strathclyde Police, said:

"Strathclyde Police also notes, with pleasure, the successful outcome to this very long-running and often complex case. Its result bears proper testament to the assiduous and exhaustive efforts of a large number of officers, and members of police staff, whose work went towards identifying and recovering the evidence to support the claim. The Proceeds of Crime Act offers a valuable tool to law enforcement agencies to see that ill-gotten gains do not remain ill-gotten. This case also offers a timely reminder that the police and other justice agencies will pursue the holders of such property for however long it takes."

 

Notes to Editors:

1. Russell Stirton, DOB 31/03/60, lives in Milngavie, Glasgow. Alexander Anderson, DOB 1/10/57, lives in Uddingston.

2. Mr Stirton and Mr Anderson may appeal Lady Stacey's decision within 21 days of the formal interlocutor which will follow.

3. The interim administrator appointed in this case on 3 February 2005 valued the assets under administration at £1,665,490 on 15 March 2005. As at 27 February 2009, the assets were valued at £922,212.22.

4. Evidence in this case was heard intermittently between 19 May 2009 and 20 May 2011. Delays in the proceedings were caused by a variety of factors including illness on the part of witnesses and the respondents.

5. The Civil Recovery Unit acts on behalf of the Scottish Ministers in the exercise of their functions under POCA 2002. In practice, the CRU investigates and recovers the proceeds of crime without the need for criminal conviction. As these proceedings were raised in the civil, rather than criminal courts, hearsay evidence was admissible and the standard of proof required was on the balance of probabilities. The CRU is a multi-disciplinary team comprising solicitors, financial investigators, support staff and forensic accountants. The civil recovery functions of the CRU are exercised independently of the prosecutorial functions of the rest of COPFS.

6. The Civil Recovery Unit works together with colleagues at the Crown Office Serious and Organised Crime Division, and other law enforcement agencies, such as the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, UK Police Forces, HM Revenue and Customs and Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to identify and recover the proceeds of crime.

7. Money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act is invested by Scottish Ministers in community projects aimed at alleviating the effects of crime. To date, over £60million has been invested in a range of activities for young people through the CashBack programme. Details can be found at

http://www.cashbackscotland.comwww.copfs.gov.uk

8. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is a committed member of the Scottish Government's Serious Organised Crime Task Force. The Task Force has a remit to pursue serious organised crime in all its forms by bringing together all agencies involved in tackling organised crime groups. Task Force members include the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, the Lord Advocate, representatives from COPFS, the Scottish Government, ACPOS, SCDEA, HMRC, SOCA and SPS. Details of the work of the Taskforce can be accessed here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/crimes/organised-crime

 

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