Profession held back in fight against crime
Leading law enforcer bemoans lack of resources to utilise accountants
A leading law enforcer has claimed that a lack of resources has held back the
use of accounting profession in the fight against financial crime.
Doug Reeman, the head of the Financial Investigation Unit – Confiscation
Team, told an ICAEW members’ conference that the practices are ideally placed to
help in asset recovery work, but a lack of resources had meant that asset
recoverers rarely got to utilise the profession.
Speaking at the ICAEW’s Sole Practitioner’s Day, Reeman warned practitioners
to be wary of changes in circumstances of long-term clients, as that could be a
sign of suspicious activity.
‘It’s more likely a criminal will take advantage of being established with a
practitioner for a long time.’
