How I got here
I had previously worked in an accounting background and studied Law. I was one of the first tranche of Accredited Financial Investigators (AFI) employed in policing in 2002 when the Proceeds of Crime Act introduced the role. I worked as an AFI for twelve years and thoroughly enjoyed it; I was exposed to all areas of Financial Investigation in criminal and civil matters. I had been interested in the work of the PoCC though engagement with my regional Regulator and I joined a couple of Financial Investigation courses acting as a Crown Court Judge for the presentations. It definitely seemed like a natural progression from being an operation AFI so I applied for a Regulator role and joined the PoCC in 2014 - I have honestly never looked back!
My role and how I protect the public
The PoCC was created out of a need to fulfil Section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (PoCA), which requires the Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA) to provide a system for the registration, training, accreditation and monitoring of the financial investigation community in England, Wales & Northern Ireland.
I protect the public by making sure that the Financial Investigators are supported in maintaining their Accreditation and ensuring that they are in possession of the relevant powers necessary to make sure that they can strip the proceeds from crime, both in civil and criminal matters.
On a great day
On a great day I will be attending a national meeting and presenting updates on the work of the PoCC to external stakeholders, or getting involved in new projects to support and enhance financial investigation capability. This can range from engaging with the private sector, the education sector or international partners. I will be in discussions with colleagues from across the POCA community about the challenges they face and working on what the PoCC can do to support this through our Accreditation & Monitoring function, such as building an upskilling package to accommodate new legislation. There is some really exciting work in the Asset Recovery and Financial Investigation landscape and, the PoCC is front and centre of it.
On a typical day
A typical day for me is dealing enquires relating to Accreditation & Monitoring. These range from issues over exam passes, appeals against a withdrawal of powers to the interpretation of legislation, statutory instruments and PoCC Policy. These enquiries often require me to carefully examine legislation and policies so I can often be found hitting the books! I will generally be in a couple of meetings each day providing guidance to the team, or supporting external stakeholders with advice on Accreditation. My role is very wide in scope and lends itself to some very interesting and sometimes challenging questions but, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
