The government is hiring 500 fraud-busters in a £500million crackdown on money laundering at Post Offices and high street shops, targeting organised crime kingpins who channel profits to countries such as Russia.
Post Offices have been identified as a 'key vector' for sending dirty money and linked to 'hostile state actors' operating in the UK, according to a briefing to senior ministers attended by Metro.
Post Office vulnerabilities
Since 2017, post office branches have been able to accept cash deposits on behalf of banks, but with less rigorous checks. This makes it easier for drug dealers and other criminals to pay in profits, often by splitting large amounts into smaller deposits and using different accounts.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis and Treasury Minister Lucy Rigby were told these weaknesses meant post offices posed a 'major vulnerability' in stopping criminal cash flowing through Britain's high streets. The pair were visiting the National Crime Agency (NCA) to unveil the government's new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy.
High street hotspots
The high street was described as a 'key vector' for illicit laundered profits. Barber shops were thought to be the hub, but officers discovered a wide range of stores, from petrol stations to vape shops, are involved.
Officers have identified three hotspot regions where criminal cash is circulating: Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and the Kent and Essex counties. These areas are the main focus of the High Street Organised Crime Unit, launched in May to crack down on laundered cash.
Russian networks and strategy impact
Ministers were also briefed about efforts to destabilise powerful Russian money laundering networks. Officers have already arrested more than 100 drug couriers connected to large-scale investigations into these transnational groups.
Jarvis told Metro: 'It's important that people understand that the UK is being made into a much harder target. Kingpin figures thinking they can come and wash their money in the way they've done previously in the UK, they should understand there will be serious consequences for their criminality. Stay away from the United Kingdom because we will catch you, we will bring you to justice, and we will prevent you from carrying out your criminal activity.'
The NCA is setting up a Financial Intelligence Service to improve co-operation with banks, combining intelligence, data and expertise to identify and stop accounts involved in moving suspicious funds.
Part of the funding comes from £350million stripped from criminals in the past year. The government says it stopped £1billion of dirty money being moved, disrupted 2,700 illicit finance operations, and returned £26million to victims as laundering convictions hit 4,000. £1million was stripped from people smugglers and immigration offenders.
Rigby told Metro: 'We know that money laundering funds some of the most serious crimes that we face in this country, from hostile state activity at one end through to fraud and people smuggling. That's exactly why we've wanted to do as much as we can to clamp down on it.'
Criminologist Prof Emmeline Taylor called the strategy 'significant', adding: 'Following the money is essential if we are serious about disrupting organised crime. If we want a High Street renaissance, we must prevent criminal economies from taking root and driving law-abiding citizens out of business.'
A Post Office spokesperson said: 'Money laundering is a complex issue which affects organisations across the financial sector. Post Office works closely with the banks and law enforcement agencies to identity suspicious activity and disrupt criminal behaviour. We continue to invest in controls, training and partnerships across the industry so we can respond to evolving threats.'
