Hammersmith Man Arrested on Money Laundering Charges

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After police swoop on currency bureaus across borough

A 58 year-old man from Hammersmith has been arrested on suspicion of facilitating money laundering after currency exchange bureaus across the capital, including both Hammersmith and Fulham, were raided on Tuesday morning.

Police and Revenue and Customs investigators swooped on businesses suspected of laundering more than £3million of criminal profits.

Detectives arrested two women and four men after seizing £180,000 on the premises, which were all over London, including in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham. They confiscated £110,000 from a single address in Paddington.

Officers have already seized £3.7million believed to have been laundered at currency exchange bureaus between April 2012 and last month. More than £2billion is thought to be laundered through such businesses in the UK every year.

Detective Superintendent Nick Downing, of the MPS specialist, organised and economic crime command, says:
" Today’s activity will make it harder for criminals to operate. By cracking down on the MSBs that facilitate money laundering, we are disrupting one of the main channels through which organised criminals launder their ill-gotten gains."

June 17, 2013