Cambridgeshire police officers seized more than £20,000 of ill-gotten cash from fraudsters as part of a successful national operation.

Op Henhouse 3 ran throughout February and gave police forces the chance to bid for funding to take on fraud projects and tackle fraud-related crime.

Its aim was to disrupt fraudulent criminality by arresting suspects, putting them before the courts and building public confidence as a result.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s fraud team successfully secured overtime funding for officers to be deployed into local communities to conduct warrants and other work around outstanding fraud suspects, with some positive results, including:

  •  Over £20k of ill-gotten cash seized
  •  One organised crime group suspected of money laundering crimes disrupted
  • Two warrants conducted in Cambridge
  • Six suspects arrested, all of whom have been released on bail while investigations continue

Detective Inspector Tom Rowe said: “This is a great example of back to basics, boots on the ground policing in our local communities and our aim was to be as disruptive as possible to suspected fraudsters.

“The pot of money secured from Op Henhouse 3 enabled our officers to take on extra duties throughout the month of February to deal with outstanding fraud suspects in our communities and we managed to achieve some fantastic results.

“Anyone can fall victim to fraud and we hope by taking part in this national operation, the people of Cambridgeshire will see how seriously we take it.”

For more advice and information on fraud and how to keep yourself safe from the scammers, visit the police force's website.