Police launch major strike against textiles theft

The City of London Police has arrested four men and seized 2£0,000 in cash as part of a major strike against an organised crime gang suspected of stealing hundreds and thousands of pounds worth of used clothing.

The raid involved 30 officers descending on a depot in Rainham, Essex last Thursday (September 8) morning. Two men were arrested – one on suspicion of fraud by false representation and the other on suspicion of fraud by false representation and money laundering.

A further two men were arrested shortly after at properties in south east London and Essex, one on suspicion of fraud by false representation and the other on suspicion of fraud by false representation and money laundering. All four men were later released on bail.

During the course of the day £20,000 in cash was seized, along with charity bags, computers and correspondence.

The investigation by the force, which is the UK’s lead police force for fraud, is one of the highest profile actions taken to date to address crime associated with textile recycling.

According to the City of London Police, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) is uncovering increasing evidence of organised crime gangs targeting bags of second hand clothes left out on the pavements for charities to collect. The NFIB is a government-funded body run by City of London Police.

The gangs are also setting up their own unregistered charities to dupe people into making donations using fraudulent charity bags sent through the post, the force said.

The bogus charity’s collectors, many of whom have been trafficked in from abroad and operating with false ID cards, will move into an area early in the morning to collect their own bags plus any others left for legitimate charities.

The stolen clothes are channelled back to depots in the South East to be exported abroad and sold, mainly in chains of supermarket style shops in countries such as Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, it claimed.

City of London Police Commander, Ian Dyson, said: “Charity bag fraud threat is a serious criminal threat stealing millions of pounds from those who help the most vulnerable in society, both at home and abroad.

“Today’s operation highlights how police forces and charities are sharing intelligence with the NFIB to identify and then dismantle the criminal networks who continue to steal from our streets to sell on high streets across Eastern Europe.

He added: “Investigating this type of criminality is a major priority for the City of London Police, and those who continue to offend should expect our officers to come calling sometime soon.”

TRA

The need to tackle theft from door-to-door collections and textile banks, as well as bogus collectors, has long been championed by both commercial textile recycling collectors and charities. In January 2011, civil society minister Nick Hurd chaired a round-table meeting involving both those sectors and enforcement agencies such as City of London Police to discuss the issues (see letsrecycle.com story).

This followed earlier meetings between the Textile Recycling Association (TRA) and City of London Police in late 2010, and the TRAs national liaison manager told letsrecycle.com the trade body was delighted to hear of the raid.

The Textile Recycling Association were the first to instigate co-operative action with City of London Police in 2010, he said. This has culminated in the setting up of the intelligence gathering process which has led to these arrests.

News of the raid was also welcomed by Mr Hurd, who said: The City of London Police are doing a great job making sure the criminals who prey on good will and starve charities of millions of pounds face the consequences. The Government is committed to working with the Police and charities to tackle this shameful crime.”

Strategy

In June 2011 the NFIB and City of London Police hosted a forum for charities and representatives from law enforcement and Westminster to establish a national strategy to combat the emerging threat.

As part of this new approach a charity bag fraud desk has been set up at the NFIB, drawing on volunteers from the sector.

The desk is using what the City of London Police dubbed the most advanced police analytical system in the world to assess criminal intelligence and co-ordinate the national police response.

Earlier this year, the IoF launched a new code of practice for door-to-door collections which it claimed would help to reduce bogus collections and theft by raising standards among legitimate collectors (see letsrecycle.com story).

On Wednesday (September 14), the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) and Institute of Fundraising (IoF) are bringing together groups involved in carrying out and regulating used clothing collections to address the recent increase in charity bag fraud.