Launderers in the news – http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/newsandevents/news/view=newsarticle.law?NEWSID=427051

Property salesman admits almost £4m money laundering offences – Devon

A semi-retired property salesman has admitted £4m in money laundering offences after he was caught trying to smuggle nearly £60,000 in cash out of the country in his underpants. The man was being monitored by the authorities as he regularly took large amounts of cash, between £25,000 and £50,000, to an exchange bureau and changed it to euros.

When arrested he claimed he was dealing with money on behalf of “clients” to purchase furniture for Spanish properties, but there was no evidence to support these claims. He eventually pleaded guilty to the money laundering offences, although he did not disclose the nature of the underlying criminal activity.

Full story – see law society link above

Couple sentenced over fraudulently cashed cheques – Lancashire

Investigations by a building society led to the arrest of a Lancashire couple for money laundering. A £50 banker’s cheque, which had been stamped with a unique identification number, had been altered to read £26,500. When officers searched the couple’s house they found a bank statement with thousands of pounds allegedly paid in by two people who had previously reported fraudulent transactions on their accounts.

The couple has been sentenced to nine months and six months imprisonment respectively, suspended for two years, and 150 hours of unpaid work.

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Gang attempt to launder hundreds of thousands at exchange bureau– East London

Members of a drug smuggling ring were convicted today on various charges of drug smuggling and money laundering. The gang laundered the proceeds of their criminal activity at a World Currency Exchange, where it was hidden among legitimate transactions.

The gang brought at least £62 million of skunk cannabis into the UK hidden in flower boxes from Holland . Sentences for the gang ranged from six-and-a-half years to 16 years for their involvement.

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Woman charged with money laundering offences totalling £39,740 – Leeds

A woman from Leeds has been charged with two money laundering offences. Firstly with concealing, disguising or converting criminal property by making deposits of £24,020 in cash into a HBOS account and secondly, with removal of criminal property, by making a payment of £15,450 into a Halifax Credit Card Account.

The prosecution believes the money represents the proceeds of the criminal activity of her husband, who is currently in jail.

Prosecuting, Richard Hebbert said the woman and her husband maintained an extravagant lifestyle which was almost entirely funded by crime and estimated that £500,000 had “been through the hands” of the defendant.

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http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leeds-woman-on-money-launder.6128351.jp

Police sergeant in custody over money laundering charges – Lancashire

A Nelson police sergeant has been remanded in custody after being charged with money laundering and perverting the course of justice. The arrests and charges are part of a probe by the constabulary’s Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCA).

The defendant is also charged with possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. Eight people were arrested and money, firearms and ammunition were seized after a series of swoops across the country.

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Four arrested on suspicion of money laundering – Cumbria

Four men were arrested outside Haverigg Prison on suspicion of money laundering. Police seized £2,000 in cash, a small amount of cannabis, six mobile phones and a laptop from a car they had searched. The searches were part of a campaign to disrupt drug dealing.

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Three Britons questioned in UK Bribery Inquiry – UK

Three executives of the British unit of Alstom, the French transport and power equipment conglomerate, have been questioned by the Serious Fraud Office, on suspicion of bribery, corruption and money laundering. The warrants were executed at the request of the Swiss federal Justice Ministry. Alstom has been under investigation in Switzerland for several years.

It is suspected that bribes were paid in order to win overseas contracts resulting in associated money laundering offences. The three men were released without charge.

Full story – see law society link above