Operation Henhouse 2: Hundreds of arrests and millions in assets seized in month tackling fraud

A month-long intensification on fraud activity last month resulted in 290 arrests, 58 warrants executed and assets totalling over £6.2m seized.

Operation Henhouse 2, funded by the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), was the result of the collaborative hard work of multiple police forces in the UK, consisting of 43 forces and eight regional organised crime units (ROCUs) - including the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud and economic crime who were responsible for leading the overall co-ordination for policing.

In West Mercia there were eleven arrests and across the UK, Operation Henhouse 2 saw in total 290 arrests made across different types of fraud offences, which included romance fraud, banking and insurance fraud, as well as money laundering and perverting the course of justice. The successful operation also saw more than £6.2m in assets seized, which included high-value jewellery and watches, cryptocurrency, cash, gold and luxury sports cars.

Detective Inspector Dan Fenn from the West Mercia Police Economic Crime Unit said: “Fraud covers a wide range of offences, and more and more we are seeing organised crime groups (OCGs) commit complex, well-structured and well-funded crimes.

“As we see in crime types such as ‘Courier Fraud’, criminals are more convincing than ever and are finding new ways to use the latest technology to defraud people.

“Intensified periods of action such as this send out a strong message that people no matter where you are we can identify you and we will work hard to bring offenders to justice.

“It’s a collective effort though and members of the public can always help; we all get calls, texts and emails we suspect are fraudulent and we just ignore them or delete them, which is off course, the right thing to. However, by also reporting these to Action Fraud, they are better placed to shut down the scams, identify those responsible and ultimately help ensure other people don’t become victims of fraud.”

For more details on how to report a fraud or attempted fraud go to www.actionfraud.police.uk/contact-us and for more information on fraud visit our website

Issued by AG, Corporate Communications