Crime bosses hiding billions in Europe due to confused laws

Authorities across Europe are failing to recoup “billions and billions” of illicit assets from criminal networks because of different country’s laws, according to the EU commissioner for home affairs. Cecilia Malmström claimed that crime bosses were therefore free to grow their empires by investing huge sums of money into gold, villas, restaurants and other assets throughout the continent. Ms Malmström, a member of Sweden's Liberal People's Party, admitted investigators were powerless to recover the money because the legal systems of the 27 member states were so different. Despite Britain being among the most effective at recovering criminal assets, officials were seizing just a “fraction” of the money it could from organised crime gangs, she added. She urged the British Government to back new EU rules to strengthen confiscation powers.