Drug baron's family lose £200,000 of crime assets

FOUR years ago he walked free from charges of trafficking heroin after a jury delivered a not-proven verdict.

But despite escaping a conviction then, George Buchanan was yesterday forced to hand over £200,000 worth of assets – including cars in the names of his wife and children – after a judge's ruling that they had almost certainly been paid for from his involvement in drug-dealing.

Assets recovered by the Crown Office included a £15,000 Mini Cooper owned by Buchanan's son, Liam, a footballer with Partick Thistle; a home in Gilb-erstoun, Edinburgh; a Range Rover owned by himself; a Mercedes in his wife Marie's name; and a Ford Focus driven by daughter Lisa Marie.

Prosecutors indicated that yesterday's Court of Session ruling was a breakthrough in their efforts to pursue the wealth of Scotland's criminal "Mr Bigs", being the first time they had been able to seize assets owned by innocent family members but funded by the profit from criminal activity.

Buchanan, 51, of Edinburgh, was jailed for 12 years in 1987 after he was linked to a £120,000 haul of heroin found in the city. He served eight years, but police surveillance of him resumed after his release.

In 2004, he stood trial at the High Court accused of supplying heroin between 1998 and 2003 but was acquitted.

However, under the 2003 Proceeds of Crime Act, the authorities raised an action seeking a recovery order for nearly £400,000 of property obtained through "unlawful conduct". A civil action is judged on balance of probabilities, rather than the more stringent "beyond reasonable doubt" in criminal cases.

In their action, the Scottish ministers alleged that Buchanan – who was jailed for eight years in 1974 for attempted murder of a teenage gang rival in the city's Niddrie district – had been concerned in supplying controlled drugs and, as a result, had acquired "substantial" cash and other assets.

In yesterday's judgment, Lord Penrose described Buchanan as "a dealer in controlled drugs".

He said: "Mr Buchanan's income from legitimate sources, on his own analysis, was wholly insufficient to finance any but a basic lifestyle. He was on benefit at all times when not in prison."

However, prosecutors failed to seize nearly £200,000 worth of assets they claimed had been funded by Buchanan, including a former council flat in Edinburgh's Lochend district.



Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, QC, said the ruling showed family members could also have property seized if it could be proved they were criminal assets. Calling Lord Penrose's op-inion "important" in a complex area of the law, she said: "Careful consideration will require to be given to its full implications.

"This decision shows that even where criminal assets are transferred into the names of innocent family members, evidence can be placed before the court that will lead to these assets being recovered."

COURTS CASH IN ON ASSETS
MORE than £17.5 million in cash and assets from criminals has been seized by Scottish courts since new powers came into force five years ago.

The law provides two avenues for police and prosecutors to chase these assets.

Anyone who is convicted in court can have their assets taken from them if it can be shown they were linked to their criminal activity.

But even where someone is acquitted of a charge, prosecutors can head to the civil courts, where the standard of proof is lower.

Here, cases are judged on the balance of probabilities, rather than the more stringent test of 'beyond reasonable doubt' used in the criminal courts.

Before the Proceeds of Crime Act was introduced in 2003, only those convicted of an offence could have assets confiscated.

The total recovered by the Civil Recovery Unit now totals nearly £6 million.

The biggest case handled by the unit saw two Kilmarnock businessmen – John Meikle and Rifat Ullah Khan Burki – forced to hand over £673,000 in 2005.

It came after they were at the centre of a VAT investigation over the import and export of computer parts.

The Crown Office used the legislation to take the case to court despite there being no related criminal proceedings.

Only days later, the first houses seized under the legislation were put up for sale. The properties were in the name of Marcus Kelman, who had been acquitted of drug charges.