Convicted crime bosses will be forced to hand over copies of their bank statements and credit card bills to the authorities when freed from jail or face another five to 10 years behind bars, if new government proposals become law.

In the measures put before the Commons yesterday in a Home Office white paper, "serious acquisitive criminals" would have to provide regular financial updates as part of their post-release probation conditions. The measures would also formalise the use of informers and allow phone taps to be used as evidence.