New initiative to take profit out of crime

ZWOLLE – Welfare recipients in the Netherlands, who drive around in high-priced sports cars and utility vehicles and spend money on expensive luxury items, can expect to be called to explain why their possessions exceed their level of known income The police have set up tip lines for the public to report such instances and plan to confiscate cars, jewelry and large homes when owners are unable to show how they paid for such possessions. The IJsselland police force, acting on such a tip, arrested a 29-year old man on suspicion of laundering money and discovered during their investigation, a marijuana grow-operation at his house as well as high-end jewelry. Still a pilot project, the IJsselland initiative is an expanded version of an initial Amsterdam project through which police sought to reign in money laundering and other crimes involving illicit funds. Police officials say that four-fifths of all crime in the country has its roots in greed, which they hope to make unprofitable through these measures.