Magistrates have given police three months to probe the origin of around £51,000 found inside a speeding M6 car after a financial investigator told them he suspected the cash could be linked to crime.
Officers on patrol between junctions 40 and 41 near Penrith at midday on Wednesday saw a vehicle travelling excessively fast. As they signalled for the driver to pull over, they saw him apparently reaching across and fidgeting while behind the wheel.
The man took some time to stop and then unusually, magistrates heard, he got out and approached their patrol vehicle. He said he was heading south after visiting his girlfriend in Scotland but could not provide her name or address. He said there was nothing in the car that might interest police.
But when the vehicle was searched, police located a carrier bag containing two sealed boxes in which there were 51 bundles of cash, which were seized.
The man claimed the money wasn’t his. Towards the end of an interview with police, he spoke of having held a party at his Bradford home and suggested somebody else might have out the cash in his car.
That was “highly unlikely”, said the investigator, as the money was predominantly in Scottish notes. Checks had shown he had previously been convicted of drug trafficking offending.
“It is my belief this money is criminal cash and is from — or intended in the use of — unlawful conduct in the UK,” said the financial investigator.
Magistrates approved seizure of the money and granted police three months to conduct checks in order to determine whether the money is linked to illegal activity.
