Money Laundering

Money Laundering is the cover-up of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses.

Bank clients can be charged and convicted for money laundering and even receive a prison sentence.

Criminals approach bank customers with requests to have funds paid into their accounts and often offer them a reward for the use of the account. Often the money that is paid into the account is proceeds of another crime.

Criminals also approach people with valid identification documents and ask them to open accounts for them to transact on because they do not have the correct documentation to qualify for an account, in return they offer them some once off reward. The criminals will then be in possession of the digital login details as well as the card and pin. The account is then used to receive proceeds of crime and is often moved out of the account quickly to various bank accounts which were also obtained the similar way. This movement of money is done to make the audit trail messy and not easy to follow quickly thereby opening a window of utilising the funds quickly.

Dos and Don’ts

• Do not open a bank account in your name on behalf of another person, irrespective of the circumstances.
• Do not allow your account to be used by another person to deposit or transact on.
• If you suspect that the money you are being paid with is the proceeds of crime; immediately report this matter to the police and your bank.