11 March 2020
Online casino fined £3 million for "systemic" AML failings
On 27 February 2020, the Gambling Commission announced that it had fined Mr Green (now owned by William Hill plc) £3 million for what it described as “systemic failings” in respect of Mr Green’s social responsibility and anti-money laundering (“AML”) controls which affected a significant number of customers across its online casinos. The fine represents the ninth gambling business to face regulatory enforcement action relating to social responsibility and AML failures since 2018.
20 February 2020
NCA relentless in demand for answers to unexplained wealth
The NCA announced on 13 February that it had obtained a freezing order preventing the sale of 17 addresses as part of an on-going investigation into a Leeds businessman with suspected links to serious organised criminals. It confirmed that the Property Freezing Order (PFO) covers properties in Leeds, Cheshire and London worth approximately £10.5 million, which are under the control of 39-year-old Mansoor Mahmood Hussain.
15 January 2020
Subject of Unexplained Wealth Order now hit with Account Freezing Order
The NCA announced on Monday 13 January that it has obtained an Account Freezing Order (AFO) over funds in excess of £1m related to businessman Mansoor Mahmood Hussain alleged to be connected to organised crime and in respect of whom the NCA had already secured an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) in July 2019. It is clear that law enforcement agencies’ appetite to deploy these draconian orders is growing.
7 November 2019
The Fourth AML Directive - The current roadmap and possible changes to the AML landscape two years on
The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) is now two years old. Last year, on its first anniversary, commentators and professionals lined up to criticise its implementation and list the challenges it faced. Twelve months further on, while much has superficially changed, the underlying issues remain the same. However there are stirrings that this could be about to change.
20 September 2019
AML: HMRC flexes enforcement muscle to the tune of £7.8 million
In September 2019, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published its list of businesses that have not complied with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) for the tax year 2019 to 2020. Within this, it revealed that it has fined Touma Foreign Exchange Ltd £7.8 million for a wide range of serious failures under the Money Laundering Regulations.