Griffith orders probe after $22m sou sou returned by police

LESS than a day after a large quantity of cash was seized by police from a building in La Horquetta, the money was eventually returned to administrators of the DSS sou sou group, by the La Horquetta police.

According to a police media release on Wednesday, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith has launched an investigation to determine who returned the cash, which was valued at $22 million, and why.

The release said Griffith found it "very suspicious" that the money was returned to the operator of the scheme without the input of the Financial Intelligence Bureau (FIB) on Wednesday.

"Investigators completed the count of the money at 12.30 am today. He said the investigation would determine if any criminal or disciplinary action is to be taken against any police officers.

"Commissioner Griffith said the money was handed back without a proper investigation to determine whether any of it was counterfeit. He said no proper investigation was done as to the source of these funds, or whether the person or persons involved had committed any criminal acts."

Griffith also noted that external forensic personnel will be brought in to determine if any of the money was counterfeit.

He also said that once people could prove their money was earned legitimately their cash would be returned to them as soon as possible.