Appleton Richardson: Money Laundering

Allegations of Money Laundering are infamous in their depth of scrutiny and detail and so it is vital that the right decisions are made from the outset. We will advise you on your options and help you through all the complexities. We can provide expert, up-to-date advice so that any obstacles are concerns can be overcome and resolved. Our team is highly experienced in tackling problems from the beginning and diffusing potentially damaging situations, leaving your business to operate effectively and with confidence.

Types of Money Laundering
Money laundering is, essentially the “cleaning or disguising of the origins of the proceeds of crime” Various schemes range in their nature and severity, however there are effectively only two types of money laundering. Firstly there are ‘own proceeds’, where a person launders the proceeds of their offence. Apart from this Do-It-Yourself style, there is also third party laundering. This involves a person, other than the prime-mover of the principal offence, laundering money on their behalf.

Appleton Richardson have incorporated within House: Data Analysts, Researchers, Chartered Accountants, Revenue Negotiators

Is this 'Criminal Property'?

HMRC v IK [2007] EWCA Crim 491, 8/3/07 the question for the Court was whether the proceeds of cheating the revenue could be 'criminal property'. In a nutshell a legitimate trader had earned legitimate money undertaking a legitimate business. The allegation was that not all the income was declared there by cheating the Revenue. The Crown prosecuted on money laundering offence but the trial Judge ruled that there was no 'criminal property' - the money did not come from crime. Following a prosecution appeal, the Court of Appeal found that the undeclared income could in part 'represent' the proceeds of crime, as that undeclared amount would be representative of the 'benefit'. There for applying the statute properly that undeclared income could at that point be “criminal property”.

Defending allegations is where our forensic accountants have the knowledge to look for the unusual. Comparing like with like on businesses in the area, finding the existence of an audit trail.

Appleton Richardson & Co. are primarily investigation specialists and continuously battling with HM Revenue & Customs on behalf of its clients so there are no conflicts of interest - just a pure will to win!