Britain’s elite criminal agency is planning a crackdown on money laundering in the City of London that is expected to lead to the arrest of lawyers linked to the movement and washing of billions of pounds of criminal proceeds.
Donald Toon, director of the economic crime command at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said the authorities would this week launch a coordinated assault on seemingly legitimate legal and banking operations that have been using London to systematically launder money for “large-scale” criminal organisations.
“We are talking here about the proceeds of major corruption and the proceeds of unjust enrichment by problem regimes,” he said, speaking at a conference hosted by the University of Cambridge.
“It is absolutely clear that there are companies and individuals who operate within the UK financial services sector and linked to the UK financial sectors... we are talking about the provision of legal services, as well as banking and company formation, or trust creation services.”
He added: “We are looking this week to begin some work involving the National Crime Agency and police to take enforcement criminal justice responses to some professionals in the legal world.”
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Mr Toon said there was a “particular problem” with UK-based legal services operations that he warned “stray beyond the boundaries of legality”.
“It is a small proportion of the industries, but it absolutely has the potential to undermine the position and reputation of a major part of the economy,” said Mr Toon.
British banks have already faced potential criminal prosecution and billions of dollars in fines from the US authorities over money laundering. The NCA’s crackdown would mark the first major British attempt to get a grip on the use of the City to launder billions of pounds in criminal proceeds.
The NCA only came into existence last year and is charged with tackling large criminal gangs and organised criminal networks.
However, the news that the agency will go after City professionals marks a major escalation in the UK’s war against wrongdoing in the financial services industry.
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Mr Toon said the UK authorities planned to draw up a “strategic response” to money laundering using the British financial system before the end of the year that is likely to lead to further criminal and regulatory action against banks, law firms and accountants found to be involved in the practice.
“What we are saying is that there is a problem here that the UK has not yet been able to deal with effectively,” he said.