What could this be? Money related

[MoneyProblem]

NC for this.

I’m going through old statements to sort out some financial bits. Statement of partners from last year. There are a few transactions I can’t understand.

Money comes in from ‘Hillside Sports GP’ and same amount is transferred out to a persons name.

I googled hillside sports and get a Gibraltar company? Is this some kind of dodgy tax thing? Can’t talk to partner until later when he’s home from work and I’m freaking myself out wondering what it can be.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Why are you going through your partners financial statements? I thought those were private no confidential unless a joint account. Worried my partner will now think he has the right to go line by line through my financial statements? It’s intrusive.

[egontoste]

The £9,000 one is perilously close to the £10,000 limit for money laundering regulations, and if this continues your dp could get into some very hot water, not only with that, but HMRC also. If they find out, they will want to know all about it, especially if the person your dp is doing this for is evading tax in any way.

[Josette77]

Why would this impact your mortgage?

[MoneyProblem]

@PlanDeRaccordement he knew I was going through them, he left them for me to look at because we’re sorting our finances out.

Looks like it’s gambling then. I still don’t understand why friend wouldn’t use his own bank account though if the same money is going into it any just via my partners account?

[ElphiasDoge]

They do money laundering checks when you buy a house so potentially do need to be careful.

[MoneyProblem]

@Josette77 I thought I’d read somewhere before about money going into/from betting was looked at unfavourably in mortgage applications, but I might be remembering wrong. I need to look that up again.

@egontoste I was worried about something like that coming up, will have a read into that thanks.

[LiveRightNow]

If he's left them out for you to go through then no problem to ask him what it is. See what he says before jumping to conclusions.

[HollowTalk]

Who is the other person that the money is going out to?

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Ok. Glad he has left them knowing you were going to look through them. I was worried when you mentioned he was hiding things? If he’s letting you go through them, he is not hiding.

It might be a gambling pool. You know where coworkers all put in a few pounds to gamble on sports teams. One person is usually treasurer so takes the money, place the groups bets and then if they win, transfers the winnings to a president who divides it up.

[EmilyBishopmyconfession]

It could be someone who has been been barred, or has self-excluded, from Bet365 previously so is using your husband's account.

Do you recognise the person's name?

[fromdownwest]

@egontoste

Sorry but that post is full of misinformation. The anti money laundering regulations begin at 1p, there is not trigger point before they start. £1 or £10,000 of laundered money is illegal. Companies will verify your details prior to being able to submit a bet, if they can not do it electronically, then they request Passport and Utility Bills.

HMRC - Why would this have any relevance to the OP, gambling winnings are tax free since betting duty was abolished in 2001.

[MoneyProblem]

I don’t think it’s a pool or syndicate. All the money that’s coming in is going out to one person, partner isn’t keeping any of it.

Must be an exclusion of some sort as someone else said. I don’t know who this person is, never heard his name mentioned so he isn’t a close friend which seems strange too. I’ll ask partner who he is.

[maxelly]

It's quite common for people who successfully make a profit out of gambling (and before I get jumped on I know these are far outweighed by the people who lose money, bookies continue to be in profit after all!) whether it's through matched betting or successful sports punting, to have their accounts closed down or stakes massively restricted by the computer algorithm which can tell they are regularly successful and costing the bookie money.

To get around this punters commonly ask friends or relatives to set up an account using their own details for the punter to use to place bets - the new accounts then get closed down in their turn so people who do this regularly do work their way around their circle of family/friends. I would guess this is what has happened here - your partner probably should have told you it was happening but no harm seems to have been done. Mortgage companies would rightly be concerned about large amounts of money being spent on gambling but I wouldn't think they would mind too much a one-off payment in?

[baffledbeyondbelief]

I'd say matched betting too, colleague of mine used various accounts in names of family & friends... the betting companies soon got wise and stopped paying out winnings without proof that it was the person who owed the account was the one using it.

Mortgage companies usually ask for the last 6 months statements so hopefully there's nothing dodgy on them? They will ask for an explanation no doubt if there is.

[kateandme]

betting.a friend did this.used all different peoples details.eventually he lost it and lost a whole lot more.it might look successful now with money coming in and out.but it soons stops.and if they are using one fake account they will open another when it starts dipping and another and another.you might see it balancing out but in another he could be losing.overdraft.in debt.
dont put off talking this through.yes it could be innocent but debt makes people different.very different.

[tillytrotter1]

Most financial dealings through Gib are dodgy, if they're legit then you don't need to go through Gib!

[maxelly]

Tilly trotter, virtually all major bookmakers operating in the UK work out of Gibralter, for tax reasons. Perfectly legal to do so - you might think that's a tax loophole the government ought to close but at the moment they don't show signs of doing so (write to your MP perhaps)?

Not saying gambling is a wise or advisable use of money, particularly if you are hiding it from your loved ones, but by your reckoning 2.1 million people in the UK (the number that gamble on sports online) have a 'dodgy' transaction on their bank statements every year - I don't think OP needs to leap straight to the idea this is somehow criminal activity going on!

[ClientListQueen]

@tillytrotter1 not true. Matched betting is perfectly legal, b365 is a genuine site

[Xenia]

Many perfectly lawful gambling companeis are based in Gibraltar. It sounds like he is helping a friend. It does not sound illegal to me. It also sounds like it has stopped.

As maxelly says millions of people bet. I don't ever as it's a mug's game but it is mostly not illegal.

[BarbaraofSeville]

If the other party is trying to hide gambling transactions due to a potential mortgage application, receiving regular large payments from an individual would also look equally suspicious.

Your DP may have been naive, so let's hope it's not jeopodised your own mortgage application, because of the reasons mentioned that could look suspicious or even be illegal, like money laundering.

If he's been providing a 'clean' account for someone else's matched betting purposes, what's in it for him, if he hasn't been taking a payment from the other person?

[MrsEricBana]

He wins it and stashes it in another account owned by him? Definitely just ask him but keep back the fact that you know it's betting and let him tell you.

[FrangipaniBlue]

Gambling websites like bet365 don't like you having lots of accounts, putting lots of money through.

I know someone who used to get friends and colleagues to open betting accounts in their name that he used. So he would pay money in, log in and do all the betting etc and when money was paid out (has to be to the account holders bank) they would then transfer it to him.

I'm not even sure whether it's legal or why you would agree to it but I'm willing to bet (no pun intended!) that's what's going on.

[Bearbehind]

I thought I’d read somewhere before about money going into/from betting was looked at unfavourably in mortgage applications, but I might be remembering wrong. I need to look that up again.

You’re not wrong. Gambling transactions are looked upon very unfavourably by a lot of lenders.

And money laundering, ie, I was only doing it for a friend, is even worse.

Having said that, most lenders only want recent statements - are those ‘clean’?

[Hsmumma]

It’s bet365

[Bobblebop]

I really think that the person the money is going to is a matched better. His own account will have been excluded from promotions. It’s not uncommon for people that’s do this to pay family/friends for accounts to continue taking advantage. I know someone who pays uni students £100 each for 365 accounts so he wouldn’t even need to know them very well. It’s not illegal but will break bookies t&cs.
Whatever it is, if you’re applying for a mortgage soon it needs to stop so just ask him.