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Original poster

Money laundering fronts/shops/cafes...how is your high st..??

224 replies

bumblebee1000 · 22/12/2023 23:43

Just curious really.....our high street now has appx 9 cafes all have the same flashy design and interior, some have a shisha area out back. very very few customers, just the odd few, males chain smoking and glued to phones, never see any women inside or outside in smoking areas, often big expensive cars parked outside. Also have the 4 barber shops which are always empty and now have one of those american candy and vape shops, this shop sold my friend fake tobacco yesterday and offered him a load of duty free tobacco from Holland, he has reported this shop to trading standards and hmrc as threw away the tobacco. So how is your high street....is it similar ? Has anyone reported these places and seen any action. Personally find them depressing. we are in London.

OP posts:
gotomomo · 23/12/2023 08:40

Even our nail bar takes credit cards, I don't think criminals operate this far west... well the drug dealers operate I suspect but they are more discreet, I hear there's a specific copse by the river you can buy cannabis

Stresa22 · 23/12/2023 08:48

There’s a Chinese restaurant that’s open for an hour or two every day but I’ve never seen anyone in there.

Ihateboris · 23/12/2023 08:49

Exactly the same in my small town in Cheshire, where rents are very high. Several Turkish barbers literally next to each other, ice cream shops and cash only nail and beauty salons. Only ever see the owners on their phones. It's sooooo obvious what's going on. How do they get away with it?

neonbluesquare · 23/12/2023 08:51

CasperGutman · 23/12/2023 06:14

Nothing like that round our way in south Wales. The cafés all seem genuine. Lots of actual customers (or not, and struggling).

Edited

There’s a very suspicious looking sweet shop in my city in South Wales! Very overpriced sweets, always empty, and in a prime location that can’t be cheap…

Ilovegoldies · 23/12/2023 08:53

CasperGutman · 23/12/2023 06:14

Nothing like that round our way in south Wales. The cafés all seem genuine. Lots of actual customers (or not, and struggling).

Edited

Where are you ? I'm in South Wales and there are loads of barbers in our high street. 5, and we are a small village/town. There are also lots of convenience stores in Cardiff and Barry that seem just to sell crisps and drinks. Certainly not enough stock to sustain a viable business. I think trading standards do investigate them but they don't have enough funding to thoroughly investigate.

AnnieKayTee · 23/12/2023 09:01

Ours is barber shops. There's 6 on one high street and only one of those is the established barber who has been there for 30 years. The others have popped up in the last year. There's also a shop that just sells homeware items, mops brooms etc. It's open very late into the night and has lots of teenage kids hanging round outside.

Ireolu · 23/12/2023 09:01

You have described our London area quite well in the OP. We have a new cafe open fortnightly. Lots of men outside smoking in the more established ones. The newer ones have no one in them. Everyone in the area speaks about it being a front for money laundering. Lots of very high value cars in front of the parade of cafes. Some school mums actively avoid walking around there. Not many American candy shops though.

sleepyscientist · 23/12/2023 09:02

SilverGlitterBaubles · 23/12/2023 08:23

I really don't understand how these places can get away with it. It doesn't take a genius to work out that a nail bar taking cash only with a big sign saying so in the window might not be paying their taxes or paying their staff properly. The local council should report them to HMRC for investigation but they just seek to be happy to turn a blind eye.

Then the shops will be empty and the council won't get its rates. I use our nail bar the staff are happy and live locally we see them out in town on a night. No doubt fiddling the books but so are most trades!

Earhell · 23/12/2023 09:03

You may live where I live

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 23/12/2023 09:13

It's not too bad where I live (rural north). I remember in my uni days visiting Annabelinda, the front shop for Howard Marks which was still going strong even after he named it in his best selling memoir

Shit, really? Annabelinda made my wedding dress in 1980!

wordout · 23/12/2023 09:30

Loads of them. Turkish barbers with no customers. Nail bars. Ice cream parlours that rarely open. Turkish takeaway that opens for a few days every few months. Hand car washes and we also live near a huge traveller site that has been raided for modern day slavery, but still has a large number of people there who look like they may be modern day slaves too.

MinnieCauldwell · 23/12/2023 09:32

Near me Shesha bars open and close then rename open again, constantly, bubble tea place came and went really quickly, never seen anyone in them except a couple of men. Theres a quite smart looking beuticians near me, its never open, never see anyone go in or out. The Facebook page has no info or comments. The window display doesnt show any products or prices. Its really odd. Also located in an area that has high rent.

1stTimeMummy2021 · 23/12/2023 09:36

In my town its barbers, they are everywhere, several open litterally next door to each other. My husband tried to get a haircut in one the other day, it was empty, he went in and asked to have his haircut only to be told it's appointment only, the "barbers" were litterally standing around doing nothing.

Happywrappy · 23/12/2023 09:45

Yep, a handful appeared on our high street over the past year (seaside town in the SW). Similar naff flashy signs; fast food and barbers. A couple of months ago they were all closed and the owner arrested for human/sex trafficking (and laundering through the businesses). Harder to get away with that kind of thing down ‘ere I suspect as we’re all nosy buggers!

Coastalwalks · 23/12/2023 09:45

@1stTimeMummy2021 you should report them to the council or police! @Ireolu and @bumblebee1000 what part of London are you in? I know I sound very curtain-twitchy but I just think that it contributes to an overall sense of urban decline (and ofc potentially organised crime!) to have these places blighting the high street ! This is a VERY comprehensive (and free to read) piece in the FT on how Oxford Street came to be overrun by these 'sweet shops' i.e. fronts for dirty money...

Babyroobs · 23/12/2023 09:48

Three new Turkish barber style shops in our small suburban village and never any customers there !

MinnieMountain · 23/12/2023 09:51

The desert places make sense in my city as there’s a large Muslim population.
There seem to be way too many barber shops for them to all be proper businesses.

nancy75 · 23/12/2023 09:51

There is a kebab shop near me that has had about 12 total refurbs in the last 2 years - nobody has every actually seen it open

DustyMaiden · 23/12/2023 09:56

I don’t think there are any here, there are few shops.
I know of an American candy shop elsewhere, are there no genuine ones?

Kannet111 · 23/12/2023 10:01

We had a vegan cake shop open last year. I think I've seen it open twice ever. God only knows what it's costing in rents and rates.

Obviously it's worth it to someone

TiptopTommy · 23/12/2023 10:03

Barbers here too. So many of them.

Avacardo2023 · 23/12/2023 10:07

There are loads in East London and to be honest it never even occurred to me that barber shops might also be fronts.

There are still a lot of American candy shops in London - I saw a massive one last night on the Strand, stocked to the brim without a single customer.

Twixandtinsel · 23/12/2023 10:11

DustyLee123 · 23/12/2023 07:01

No, none of those shops in my city.

There will be.

AnyFucker · 23/12/2023 10:14

Yep (Manchester area)

Pound shops, “Turkish” barbers, chicken takeaways, dessert shops, “Italian” (actually Armenian) with dealing on the car park, the list goes on

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