Olympic medal and large bear figure among unusual police seizures

3 hours ago

Phil McCannNorth West

Money launderers use the purchase of unusual items to disguise their transactions, police say

BBC Haul of goods including large figurine and watches. — Money launderers use the purchase of unusual items to disguise their transactions, police say

Boxing belts, an Olympic medal and a giant bear figure are all amongst items that have been confiscated from criminals in Greater Manchester.

A record amount of money, totalling £18.2m, was recovered from criminals across Greater Manchester from April 2025 to April 2026, according to police.

As well as the cash, police also seized items, from designer watches and gold to more unusual items among the haul.

BBC North West Tonight visited the Greater Manchester Police's evidence store to take a look at the wide-ranging collection of confiscated goods, from sports memorabilia to rare collectible toys.

The items have all been subject to separate court hearings so they could be confiscated

Staff showed the BBC a signed and framed Floyd Mayweather boxing belt, a signed and framed football shirt from former Manchester City star João Cancelo and an Olympic gold medal and cap, also signed and mounted.

"Money launderers have got to try and find way to disguise the proceeds of their crime, so they will invest in some quite unusual items", Det Supt Andrew Buckthorpe said.

Signed and framed sporting memorabilia included a signed swimming cap and medal from Olympian James Guy

Signed football shirts and — Signed and framed sporting memorabilia included a signed swimming cap and medal from Olympian James Guy

Money from the confiscated assets and forfeited cash will go into the government's Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, where 50% is kept by the government but the rest is distributed back to the police force area where the crime took place.

The force said their share of the money would be spent on community policing or handed to community organisations.

Meanwhile, a portion of the money will be used to compensate victims for their losses.

The force said it seeks the opinion of expert valuers and auctioneers so confiscated criminal assets can be sold at the best price

Large framed oil paintings — The force said it seeks the opinion of expert valuers and auctioneers so confiscated criminal assets can be sold at the best price

In February, GMP was granted its largest-ever forfeiture order for gold bars - valued at £1.8m - that were seized at Manchester Airport last year.

Det Insp Sarah Langley said the force had seen an increase in criminals buying high value items rather than carrying "big bags of cash around" because they were "easier to carry, they're not as bulky".

A collection of watches seized by the force

A box filled with watches. — A collection of watches seized by the force

The All Aboard Youth Rowing charity is a recipient of money from the scheme, which it uses to give free rowing lessons to secondary school children.

Adrian Stores, head of partnerships at the charity, said they often help "children who are disengaged from the traditional educational environment, it might well be children who get into trouble at school".

A new allocation of funding is being used to expand their operations to Hollingworth Lake, allowing the charity to give lessons to children in Rochdale.

"It's funding that's clearly from ill-gotten gains," Stores said.

"But ultimately it's going to be used for helping out a serious number of young people across the North West of England."

The items, including this rare bear figure, will be sold at auctions

Large green bear figure. — The items, including this rare bear figure, will be sold at auctions

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