Get an Education and Make Crime Pay

national | crime and justice | other press Tuesday August 31, 2004 15:16 by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts finfacts at finfacts dot ie 087 2474328

Burglaries have fallen internationally because with the significant fall in the prices of goods such as televisions and VCRs, the returns from a fence simply doesn't merit the risk. By getting an education, an individual both increases the returns from legitimate and illicit activity.

In recent times there has been much media focus on the increase in armed gang attacks on security vans delivering cash to ATM outlets. However, as with past tax evasion in Ireland, the estimated billion or more pounds which Irish nationals have looted from the UK, has hardly caused a ripple.

According to the UK Treasury, the UK Customs & Excise detected carousel consignments of computer chips shipped to Ireland in the first half of 2002 large enough in aggregate to have supplied the entire market for that chip in Europe, Asia and Africa put together. This was part of one of the great frauds of recent times.