NATA-LIA / SHUTTERSTOCK News Operation Henry 2 nets nearly 1m of illicit tobacco products Illicit tobacco products worth nearly 1m were seized during Operation Henry 2 (OH2) 18 per cent higher than the first operation carried out by trading standards in 2014. OH2, which was developed and managed by CTSI on behalf of the Department of Health, was conducted across all nine English regions by 67 trading standards services. In total, 84 per cent of services made at least one seizure during one inspection. Of the businesses where seizures were made, 57 per cent were repeat offenders. According to the report: OH2 has highlighted the high level of repeat offending that is taking place. This highlights the importance of taking full enforcement action locally. It may also suggest that the current sanctions/penalties available are not acting as a sufficient deterrent. Thiscould be because the courts are not imposing the maximum penalties available to them, or the range of sanctions are no longer fit for purpose. Further review of this is necessary. Together, trading standards officers confiscated around 2.9 million cigarettes and 1,272kg of illicit hand-rolling tobacco (HRT) from all regions of England an additional 205,591 sticks and 547.22kg of illicit HRT compared with Operation Henry 1. The majority of seizures were of relatively small quantities, suggesting only a small amount of stock is maintained at retail premises, to reduce the risk of a significant loss of product during a search and seizure. The largest single haul was made at a self-store facility in Derbyshire, where more than 1.3 million cheap white cigarettes, and 551.45kg of illicit HRT, were seized. The highest number of seizures was made in the West Midlands (21 out of 31 visits, or 68 per cent). The lowest seizure rate was in the South West (10 out of 48 visits, or 21 per cent). During OH2, a number of other goods were seized, including: illicit alcohol, counterfeit Viagra, cannabis and cash. Immigration issues were also reported to the Border Agency. Illicit tobacco products are estimated to leave the public purse around 2.1bn short per year. City of London Police charge three men in horsemeat investigation The City of London Police investigation into how food products became adulterated with horsemeat led to three men being charged with fraud offences on 26 August. Alex Ostler-Beech, 43, of Hull; Ulrik Nielsen, 57, of Gentofte, Denmark; and Andrew Sideras, 54, of Southgate, were all charged with conspiracy to defraud and bailed to appear at City of London Magistrates Court on 27 September. The charges follow a complex international criminal investigation that saw the City of London Police the national policing lead for fraud working in partnership with the Food Standards Agency and Crown Prosecution Service, as well as law enforcement agencies from across the UK and Europe. City of London Police detectives first arrested Ostler-Beech in Hull and Sideras in London, in July 2013. In August, Nielsen was also interviewed under caution in Hull, along with a 52-year-old man. The 52-year-old has been released with no further action taken. Consumer minister announced by new government ALLSTAR PICTURE LIBRARY / ALAMY Margot James, the MP for Stourbridge, has been announced as the new parliamentary under-secretary of state for small business, consumers and corporate responsibility under Theresa Mays post-Brexit vote government. Consumer affairs had no official minister under the former Conservative government between May 2015 and July 2016. The post, which falls under the newly formed department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, supports the minister for climate change and industry. James policy priorities include: G Small business (including the Small Business Commissioner) G Retail sector G Consumer and competition (including energy retail markets, competition law and Companies House) G Deregulation and regulatory reform G Corporate governance G Local growth G EU structural funds G National minimum wage Massive haul of dangerous electrical goods destroyed More than 28,000 dangerous electrical items destined for UK households in the run-up to Christmas 2015 have now been destroyed. The items destroyed by heavyduty shredders at the beginning of September were seized by Enfield Trading Standards, which conducted raids on a warehouse full of unsafe electrical products in December as part of a national operation funded by National Trading Standards. The goods which had an estimated retail value of more than 232,000 included a variety of potentially lethal products, such as laptop chargers and adapters, PC tablets and Christmas lights imported from China and other non-EU countries. In total, 22 trading standards officers from across London, as well as the Metropolitan Police, HM Revenue & Customs and immigration departments, took part in the raid. Between January and June 2016, nearly 4,000 items have been assessed at border points, with 99 per cent of these being deemed unsafe or noncompliant. ANKE VAN WYK / SHUTTERSTOCK Either scam mail or something to do with pound coins? Give MMF organised crime status, new study urges government Mass marketing fraud (MMF) should be given the status of organised crime, with police and crime agencies taking greater responsibility for tackling it, according to a new study. The report, by the not-for-profit research organisation RAND Europe, says the change should be implemented because MMF companies have ties to money laundering and other organised crime. But it stresses that adequate resources need to be supplied to tackle the issue, which is estimated to cost consumers between 1.2bn and 5.8bn a year (an illustrative figure). It also advises that new legislation be considered by the government to prevent companies sharing information, and to enable partners to tackle MMF more effectively. The recommendations were made as part of a Victims lose nearly 7,000 in a wider review of the National Trading Standards lifetime to mass marketing fraud Scams team. A new study, which analysed data on RAND Europes research estimates that the more than 30,000 UK victims of mass overall value for money provided by the NTS Scams marketing fraud (MMF), has shown that team is 27 per 1 invested, but researchers admit victims lose 6,744, on average, during that this figure fails to take into account the true their lifetime. costs of tackling MMF, as those of local TSS which Analysis also highlighted huge investigate, apprehend and prosecute offenders variations between victims in the amount were not part of the review. The figure is also based lost, with the majority losing up to several on 15.8m of documented savings recorded in a hundred pounds as a result of MMF, and three-year period. If only returned savings are used one per cent down more than 100,000 6.9m as of January 2016 the teams value for during their lifetime. money falls to 12 per 1 invested. It was previously estimated that 3.2 The report points out that, while more cases are million people in the UK are victims of being reported to local TSS, some 44per cent of MMF, with indicative figures suggesting that local authorities limit the number of cases taken on, between 1.2bn and 5.8bn could be lost mainly because of constraints on resources. RANDs each year. analysis of referrals suggests it would take more The study, conducted by RAND Europe, than a year to process those remaining in more than was part of an independent review of the 70 per cent of local TSS under their current service National Trading Standards Scams team, level agreements although not all cases would which helps to tackle mass marketing merit referral. fraud in England and Wales. Continuing public sector cuts are highlighted The study showed that older people as a threat to the teams ability to provide value for tended to be the most prominent victims of money. The report says: The main risk lies in the MMF; however, no particular group could vulnerability of its network of relationships with local be isolated or ignored as potential victims. TSS to further budget reductions, which could limit Mass marketing fraud was found to affect or end their ability to follow up team leads. A further all members of society, regardless of their question is whether National Trading Standards is age, class, occupation, socio-economic optimising the expertise and potential of the team, background, race or gender. given its relatively small scale in comparison to the estimated size of the MMF problem.