Commentary on Sections Part 8: Investigations Interpretation Section 378: Officers
532.This section lists the appropriate officers and senior appropriate officers who may apply for the orders and warrants set out in set out in this Chapter. Section 443 empowers the Secretary of State to specify by order particular groups of accredited financial investigators who may exercise the powers of appropriate officers and senior appropriate officers, for example, accredited financial investigators who are also company investigators attached to the Department for Trade and Industry. An accredited financial investigator is a person accredited under section 3. Only the Director can investigate civil recovery, and accredited financial investigators engaged by ARA will not have access to money laundering investigation powers (subsection (7)).
533.Civilians authorised by the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service to handle suspicious transaction reports may or may not be accredited financial investigators. For the purposes of the offence of prejudicing a money laundering investigation (section 342), subsection (5) includes them in the definition of “appropriate officer”. It is therefore an offence to make a disclosure or tamper with evidence which involves an investigation being carried out by such civilians (see the note for section 342 above).