Tougher checks on fraudsters in ‘dirty money’ crackdown
LIFE is set to get tougher for fraudsters living lives of luxury following a new crackdown on economic crime worth £14.4billion every year.
Bank chiefs will meet the Government twice a year in a new Economic Crime Strategic Board to tackle the scourge.
Some £3.5million is to be spent on making it easier for bank workers, accountants, lawyers and estate agents to alert authorities to potentially dirty money.
The Home Office will use the cash to streamline Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) – a system which allows finance staff to report suspected terrorist financing or money laundering.
Ministers vowed to step up efforts to tackle the problem in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal in March.
Lucrative
London’s lucrative property market is considered one of the main ways criminals can launder money.
The National Crime Agency received a record number of SARs – 463,938 – last year after they soared 10 per cent on the previous year and had doubled in a decade.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We need to take action on all fronts to target the corrupt fraudsters who are lining their pockets with dirty money and living luxury lifestyles at the expense of law-abiding citizens.
“The Government is already investing millions in the fight against economic crime, but it is crucial we work closely with our financial-sector partners to win this battle.
“These criminals threaten the UK’s reputation as a world-leading place to do business and we have a joint responsibility to stop them.”
The new taskforce will include the bosses of Barclays, Lloyds and Santander.
Many experts fear London is being used to “wash” hundreds of billions from across the world.
Chancellor Philip Hammond added: “The UK is leading the world in the fight against illicit finance, preventing fraudsters from stealing billions from the public each year.
“We know more can be done which is why the Home Secretary and I are launching the first ever crossdepartmental board to prevent more people from becoming victims of economic crime.
Transparent
“By bringing together specialists across the public and private sector, we can use the best of our expertise to maintain our status as a global financial centre.”
Bob Wigley, chair of industry body UK Finance, said: “We want to ensure the UK is the safest and most transparent financial centre. Banks already spend over £5billion a year fighting economic crime, but the private sector can’t tackle it alone.
“That’s why the finance industry works closely with law enforcement and government agencies to stop the threat and protect customers. The new Economic Crime Strategic Board will strengthen these vital partnerships.”
He said UK Finance was already hosting experts to reform the current regime.