White paper heralds Serious Organised Crime Agency and signals hope on fraud

A new Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), dubbed the UK’s FBI, forms the centrepiece of the Home Office white paper “One Step Ahead: A 21st Century Strategy to Defeat Organised Criminals” that was published at the end of March. The new Agency would incorporate the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), the National Crime Squad (NCS), the investigation and intelligence work of HM Customs and Excise on serious drug trafficking and associated asset recovery, as well as the Home Office’s role in the area of organised immigration crime.