The UK’s National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) and the Home Office have warned against the threats to the country’s national security and economic prosperity by crimes such as fraud, money laundering and corruption.
In a joint report highlighting the Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) around economic crime, the agencies have said each of the above challenges “enables and funds other crimes such as child sexual exploitation, drug dealing, human trafficking and modern slavery.”
The publication of the ARIs aims “to advance the understanding of the threat from economic crime to support effective policy and law enforcement responses to tackling this threat,” the report says.
The report does not provide practical guidance or expert advice on how to tackle the above challenges. It rather calls upon experts and researchers to put forward ideas on how to overcome the challenge.
These ideas will then improve the agencies’ current understanding of economic crime, protect individuals, minimize threats and support economic growth.
The publication focuses on three main areas of economic crime that are prevalent in the UK, namely:
- Fraud: It accounted for 43% of crime recorded by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) in the year ending December 2024. Victims of fraud are said to experience a range of emotional, health and financial harms.
- Money laundering: It “fuels other crimes, undermines legitimate growth and our national security.” The agencies estimate that “over £100 billion ($135 billion) is laundered every year through the UK or UK corporate structures using high end money laundering methods.”
- Corruption: “It can stifle economic growth, enable broader criminality, erode democracy and endanger national security.”
Scale and response
The publication follows the convening of the UK’s first ever economic crime academic forum in October last year by the NECC and the Home Office. The intention is to bridge the gap between academic research and policymaking in order to tackle the challenges posed by fraud, money laundering and corruption.
The above three areas have been classified as a “priority for further research” by the agencies, where external research is expected to have a major influence on decisions and policies.
The ARIs pose questions to researchers and experts about the scale, nature and prevalence of the above three types of economic crimes.
The report also seeks a better understanding of the identities of the offenders and the victims, to highlight harms and, importantly, to assess the government’s response.
Appropriate responses “could include a range of activities such as: improving identification of criminal activity, best use of prosecutions and convictions, and the recovery of criminal assets,” the agencies have suggested.
Finally, the publication mentions constant and speedy advances in technology as a major challenge in tackling economic crimes, and calls for a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities such technologies can present.
It specifically mentions the role and potential of emerging technologies such as AI in detecting and preventing economic crime.
