Money laundering

Most organised criminal activity is directly or indirectly aimed at making money. The ability to launder this money to prevent it being associated with criminal activity is a major concern for all organised crime groups.  

The proceeds of most crime are usually generated as cash. Hard cash represents a considerable risk to criminals. It increases the possibility of exposure, theft by rival criminals and seizure by law enforcement. 

Cash is also bulky and cumbersome to handle in large quantities. When cash enters the legitimate economy, it is particularly vulnerable to identification and law enforcement intervention. 

How money is laundered 

To avoid this, criminals take action to prevent this cash from attracting suspicion. For example they may move it to other locations, including abroad. They also use it to buy other assets or try and introduce it into the legitimate economy through businesses with a high cash turnover. 

A significant amount of the criminal proceeds generated in the UK is laundered overseas.  The United Arab Emirates, the Far East and South East Asia (particularly Hong Kong and Singapore) and Spain are all attractive to money launderers. 

Specialist money launderers 

The number of criminals who actually specialise as money launderers, providing more sophisticated laundering services to other criminals, is believed to be small, compared to the total number of criminals engaged in money laundering activity.  

However, these specialists are responsible for laundering a significant proportion of all proceeds of crime. Their ability to process more value per transaction increases the likelihood that organised criminals will be interested in using their services. Specialist money launderers will often launder money for several criminal groups and charge commission.  

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You can read more about the role of money on our criminal finances page