Deposit Box
U.K. – Police raids safe deposit boxes
Officers believe the boxes were being used to store criminal assets
Six suitcases packed with suspected gold dust and about £30m in cash have been found during searches of safety deposit centres in London, police say.
Detectives also found heroin and cocaine, evidence linked to child sex abuse and forged passports.
The Met Police believe criminals used the centres in Park Lane, Hampstead and Edgware to store criminal assets.
Armed police continue to guard the buildings as specialist officers search the 7,000 safety deposit boxes.
So far only a third of the boxes have been opened and the finds have also included a firearm, counterfeit currency, several works of Renaissance art and a substantial amount of high value jewellery.
 |
 I am confident that this operation will have a damaging impact on organised crime in London and around the rest of the country  Commander Allan Gibson
|
Speaking after the raids Commander Allan Gibson said: “Search teams have been working around the clock to open all the boxes at the location and are progressing well, although we are likely to remain at the locations for some time yet.
“This is a complex and unique investigation that will use all of the expertise within the economic crime command and the findings are within our expectations at this stage.
“I am confident that this operation will have a damaging impact on organised crime in London and around the rest of the country.”
Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets
The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they’re supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a “Good Morning America” investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn’t really unclaimed and then use the money — your money — to balance their budgets.
Unclaimed property consists of things like forgotten apartment security deposits, uncashed dividend checks and safe-deposit boxes abandoned when an elderly relative dies.
Banks and other businesses are required to turn that property over to the state for safekeeping. The problem is that the states return less than a quarter of unclaimed property to the rightful owners.
Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes
San Francisco resident Carla Ruff’s safe-deposit box was drilled, seized, and turned over to the state of California, marked “owner unknown.”
“I was appalled,” Ruff said. “I felt violated.”
Unknown? Carla’s name was right on documents in the box at the Noe Valley Bank of America location. So was her address — a house about six blocks from the bank. Carla had a checking account at the bank, too — still does — and receives regular statements. Plus, she has receipts showing she’s the kind of person who paid her box rental fee. And yet, she says nobody ever notified her.
“They are zealously uncovering accounts that are not unclaimed,” Ruff said.
To make matters worse, Ruff discovered the loss when she went to her box to retrieve important paperwork she needed because her husband was dying. Those papers had been shredded.
And that’s not all. Her great-grandmother’s precious natural pearls and other jewelry had been auctioned off. They were sold for just $1,800, even though they were appraised for $82,500.
“These things were things that she gave to me,” Ruff said. “I valued them because I loved her.”
Bank of America told ABC News it deeply regrets the situation and appreciates the difficulty of what Mrs. Ruff was going through. The bank has reached a settlement with Ruff and continues to update its unclaimed property procedures as laws change.
California’s Class Action Lawsuit
Ruff is not alone. Attorney Bill Palmer represents her and countless other citizens in a class action lawsuit against the state of California.
Read moreNot-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets