£288m laundered in the UK last year
Money laundering tripled in value in the UK last year, as part of an overall rise in financial services fraud.
According to the BDO FraudTrack Report, £288m was laundered in reported cases in the UK last year, compared to £70m in 2012—a surge of 309%.
Some £170m of this was laundered through a bureau de change in the west London neighbourhood of Notting Hill, while an East Midlands courier laundered £52m and £20m was laundered through a bogus marriage ring in London.
Kaley Crossthwaite, head of fraud at BDO and author of the report, says the rise “may be partly down to an increase in organised crime activity, however the demand for transparency in the financial services sector is also surely playing a part.”
She said increased legislation and compliance “imposed on largely unsuspecting businesses” operating in the financial services sector was “uncovering increasing numbers of illegal transactions that may have historically been swept under the carpet”.
Financial services industry fraud now accounts for just over half of all reported fraud, and rose from 122 offences worth £473m in 2012 to 132 worth £532m last year.
However, the total amount of fraud in the UK fell last year, from £1.37bn to £1.05bn.
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