Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO)

RCPO is an independent Government department. We prosecute cases in England and Wales investigated by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). We handle cases involving:

drug smuggling
tax fraud
evasion of the duty on tobacco, alcohol and oils
illegal arms trafficking
money laundering
sanctions violations.

These offences have a direct impact on the fabric of society. Through the efficient and effective prosecution of them, we play an important role in the Criminal Justice System.

News

02/07/09
RCPO welcomes publication of inspection report
The report of the first full inspection of the work of RCPO shows that RCPO has made good progres...

26/06/09
Businessman previously involved in corporate failures in UK and US jailed for VAT fraud
A company director was jailed today for two and a half years at Bournemouth Crown Court for cheat...

08/06/09
Arms dealers jailed for arms trafficking to Iran
Three businessmen were jailed today for a total of 10 years at Southwark Crown Court for conspiri...

Featured case

Perjury possibility at retrial secures conviction

On 9 January 2009, Andrew Badland was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempting to handle stolen goods, in his case 8.5 million imported cigarettes which he had been unloading from a container in a warehouse in London.

More

Featured page

Is prosecution the answer?: RCPO's first national conference a success

On 6 May, we hosted out first national conference at the Guoman Tower Hotel, London to debate the question ‘Is prosecution the answer?’. We were joined by delegates from across the Criminal Justice System and the Bar.

Our performance

91%

During 2007/08, we completed 1,289 cases involving 1,712 defendants. We achieved a conviction of at least one defendant in 91% of those cases.