The UK’s first INTERPOL Silver Notice has been published to help trace and recover the criminal assets of a convicted fraudster thought to have made £8.5 million illegally.
Anopkumar Maudhoo, who used several aliases, has been made subject to the order, which facilitates locating, identifying, and obtaining information about laundered assets such as properties, vehicles, financial accounts and businesses.
He was convicted last month after orchestrating a large-scale conveyancing fraud which offered investment opportunities in supposedly repossessed properties or the re-development of plots of land. However, in reality the properties were not subject to repossession proceedings and the genuine owners were unaware of the fraudulent sales.
Maudhoo, 45, of Wapping, London, admitted a total of 76 offences in March including fraud, money laundering and possession of false identity documents, following an investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).
The Silver Notice allows INTERPOL member countries to share alerts and requests for information worldwide and is part of a pilot phase involving 52 countries and territories running until at least until November.
Through Silver Notices and Diffusions, member countries can request information on assets linked to a person’s criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offenses.
All Notices, including Silver, are facilitated through the INTERPOL National Central Bureau which is housed by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Domestic enquiries into Maudhoo are also ongoing, led by ERSOU’s economic crime unit, to identify assets which could be sold to compensate victims using Proceeds of Crime Act legislation.
His other aliases include Vincent Lebeouf, Pascal Burns, Yusef Khan, and Vicenzo Conte.
