When should a payment line of enquiry stop?¶

A payment line of enquiry should stop when the relevant investigative questions have been answered proportionately or further work is unlikely to produce material evidence.

Avoid this assumption: That every transaction must be traced indefinitely until every later movement is explained. Start with the purpose of the enquiry.

You may need to establish loss, recipient, account control, fund dissipation, benefit, recovery opportunity or links to other offenders.

Once the required proposition is proved, disproved or cannot realistically be resolved, further tracing may add cost without changing the decision.

A line may also stop where records no longer exist, the provider cannot identify the account, funds have entered a service that cannot be resolved proportionately or the likely evidential value is minimal.

That decision should not be based on difficulty alone.

Consider the seriousness of the case, value, vulnerability, recovery prospects, wider intelligence and whether specialist support could materially change the outcome.

Record what was traced, which providers were contacted, what remains unknown and why further work is not proportionate.

Do not imply that the last visible account or wallet is necessarily the final beneficiary.

Likewise, do not continue simply to create a visually complete flowchart.

The investigation should answer operational questions, not pursue technical completeness for its own sake.

Where a future trigger may justify reopening the line, record it.

When reporting, make the stopping decision transparent and defensible.

Operational takeaway¶

Stop a payment line of enquiry when the material questions are answered or further work is unlikely to change the investigative outcome, and document the proportionality decision clearly.