Bark and Co Solicitors

As one of the leading serious fraud firms in UK, Bark & Co

regularly have to advise their clients on the implications of

money laundering charges which often accompany

investigations and prosecutions of fraud. UK legislation is

wide ranging and recent changes to the law have increased

the likelihood of money laundering charges being pursued

vigorously by the authorities. The team at Bark & Co are

experts in the interpretation of the law and in particular the

parameters open to the prosecuting authorities in respect

of money laundering charges.

In the UK, primary legislation on money laundering includes

the Terrorism Act 2000, the Anti-Terrorism Crime & Security

Act 2001, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2005 and the Serious

Crime and Police Act 2005. Secondary legislation

comprises Money laundering Regulations 2003 and 2007.

These increasingly stringent regulations put the onus on

businesses to ensure that certain controls are in place to

prevent them being used for money laundering purposes

including customer due diligence measures and internal

controls and monitoring systems.

Under UK law, it is a money laundering offence when a person

enters into, or becomes concerned in, an arrangement which

facilitates by whatever means the requisition, retention, use or

control of criminal property (assets or money) by another

person. In many cases, the authorities seek to block suspected

money laundering activities at an early stage by applying severe

constraints even where there is scant evidence of wrong doing.

Actions include forfeiture of assets etc.

Bark & Co frequently has cases under way where our clients

are facing both fraud and money laundering charges. In one

such recent example the FSA and City of London Police had

mounted a combined operation into a large boiler room fraud

based overseas. This case has been singled out as a good

example of the increasing scale and prevalence of this type of

fraud and demonstrates how international operations are being

used to bypass the UK financial regulations and authorities to

launder money abroad. In another fully contended, cut-throat

trial, our client was implicated in a conspiracy to defraud a bank

of more than £200M, setting up several offshore accounts to

money launder the proceeds of the fraud. In all cases, Bark &

Co set out to ensure that our experience and expertise is

carefully matched to client requirements, utilising the best legal

counsel where necessary to achieve the best outcome.