It’s been revealed that gold bars worth in the region of £750,000 were seized at Manchester airport after being found in a travellers lunchbox. They were headed for Dubai.
Photo of the seized gold.
The 16kg in total bars were seized by HMRC (who deals with the countries money basically), and are being auctioned off soon with all proceeds coming back to public services such as schools and hospitals.
The HMRC were able to confiscate the bars since new rules were imposed that allowed them to do so. They can’t only seize cash anymore, but they can now seize “assets” believed to have come from crime, such as this instance here.
Gill Hilton, assistant director at HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “This is the first time HMRC has used these powers to seize and forfeit a listed asset, and it should act as a deterrent to criminals looking to trade assets such as precious metals.
“If they are the proceeds of crime or intended for unlawful conduct, we now have the powers to take them from criminals and use the money for public services.
“The money raised through the auction will go straight back into the public purse, to be spent on vital services such as hospitals and schools.
“We are determined to cut off the funds that finance serious crime in the UK.”
The auctioneers who are set to swing the hammer tomorrow on the third of September have previously auctioned other luxury items for HMRC. The auction will be online, likely due to the coronavirus, and will start at 2pm.
Michael Streight, the government sales coordinator at Wilsons Auctions, said: “Wilsons Auctions is delighted to once again be realising a significant amount of 24ct gold bars on behalf of HMRC through its upcoming Online Luxury Assets Auction.
“Having successfully sold over £1 million worth of gold for HMRC in a previous auction, we are proud to continue realising these luxury seized assets, with the money raised ultimately going back into the public purse.”
