A Dutchman arrested with his Thai wife last year in Pattaya after a raid that saw the seizure of more than 100 million baht in assets has been sentenced to 103 years in prison for money laundering. Johan van Laarhoven, 55, will spend 20 years behind bars serving 43 concurrent sentences, Dutch media reported Tuesday. […]

BANGKOK – Johan van Laarhoven a Dutch national who founded cannabis cafes in Brabant has been jailed for 103 years by a court in Bangkok for money laundering. Johan van Laarhoven, 55, will have to spend 20 years in jail because the 43 sentences can be served concurrently, the court found him guilty of laundering […]

Solicitor fails to review money laundering risk after police warning The following case illustrates the importance of solicitors carrying out their own due diligence on clients, and the very serious consequences of failing to do this. Mrs A was a senior partner and the money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) of a medium-sized law firm. On […]

Solicitor fails to respond to money laundering warning signs The following case illustrates the importance of being aware of the money laundering warning signs and acting on them when dealing with clients. Mr A was a fee-earner in a small law firm. Mrs Z engaged his services in buying a portfolio of buy-to-let properties. The […]

Compliance officer detects inappropriate use of client money The following case illustrates the importance of having a consistent approach to compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations throughout the entire firm. Mr A was a partner in a medium-sized law firm. A year ago, he started acting for XYZ Ltd (‘XYZ’). XYZ specialised in purchasing high […]

 Nineteen people working for the biggest donor to the Conservative Party have been arrested in France in connection with a multi-million pounds tax and money laundering scandal. All are linked to Lycamobile, the multinational telecoms giant, which has given at least £2.2m to Prime Minister David Cameron’s party since 2011, including half-a-million last year alone. […]

The Madrid branch of Chinese bank ICBC received cash in rucksacks and boxes from Chinese criminal groups in Spain and wired the money to accounts in China under a $100-million money-laundering scheme, Spanish prosecutors say. Details of the allegations against ICBC are made public for the first time in a court document summarising an investigation […]

A Russian trader has been bailed after allegedly laundering $22 million through the London futures market A Russian broker working at a big global financial services company has been arrested as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering by a criminal gang after staff at Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, […]