Am I unwillingly involved in money laundering?

[mamabird201313]

Ok money laundering might be a bit extreme but I'm wondering if I've been taken for a mug by friend.

So friend and her DH own a shop selling discounted food and during lockdown it's really taken off and they're doing really well (to the point that they're opening another shop next month) Now her DH has always been a bit 'dodgy' and she's briefly told me a bit about tax evasion, selling dodgy goods in the past etc but I've always just decided to mind my own business.

A few weeks ago she transferred me £20 without telling me, and I didn't think anything of it because she owed me money from an event ticket we'd paid for but had been cancelled due to COVID. Then the next day she transferred me about £80. So I messaged her asking what it was and she replied all shocked saying that she thought she'd transferred it to herself so could I send it back to her. (It's worth mentioning here that the reference for the money into my bank said PAYPAL and then her name, and she asked me to send it to her bank account.

Anyway, last week she messaged asking if she could do it again because she didn't have her other bank account set up to do transfers, she only had me set up on there before I could reply she'd sent me £95 so I obviously just had to transfer it back to her.

Now I'm thinking could this be dodgy? Like is she doing this to a few people and is it a way that they're taking money out of the business and sending it to people to try and hide it in some way? Obviously I'm hoping that I'm wrong and I'm just being over dramatic because the thought that she's doing something willingly that could get me in to trouble naturally really upsets me and would ruin our friendship.

So basically I'm asking if this would ring alarm bells to you?

I would do what marshamallow suggested, transfer it back to the PayPal account. If you want to keep the friendship you could do it ‘by mistake’.
Also the point above about telling her the bank has flagged them as suspicious is a good one.

Don’t HMRC check personal accounts then?

It seems a bit of a flaw in the system?

You are over thinking things.

Of course she isn't

My friend is an AML investigator at a bank. You need to report asap. He has had cases with 30-40 people involved with no idea, and there is some kind of funny law in place that you agree to when you open most accounts that no one reads that has gotten a lot of people fines. I would report to your bank and say you think the transactions need to be examined.

There was a similar thread a while ago. I don't think money launderers use PayPal for a start. If you're worried ring your bank for advice

So 2 transactions, 1 understandably a payment for tickets, the second ‘explained’ as a mistake.

I would keep records of messages saying ‘thanks for ticket money’ and her explanation of the ‘mistake’, and then tell her verbally that you will not accept any more transfers in or out of your account because you have to account for them in your Tax Self Assessment Or you are worried it could affect Tax Credits or something.

That will be the last you hear if this nonsense.

You could spend months with your accounts blocked, as the PP who works in a bank said, for little result. I would guess HMRC might not prioritise a couple of £100 dodgy business.

You are right to be concerned. ML can involve even small amounts of money as can tax evasion. Sometimes it's small amounts to avoid detection & other times small amounts to build up a relationship with the person involved ie you.

So what's she's doing is sending you dodgy money and when you send it back (to a different account I would guess) it looks clean and legit.
She's just working out your tolerance and the amounts will get bigger. She might start suggesting you can keep some for your trouble. By then you've committed a criminal offence.
Tell her not to send you any more money ( by text and keep it) and if she keeps doing it report her to action fraud (they're police).

I would report her to her bank do you know who she is with? You can find out by googling her sort code. It's not fair for her to put you in this situation

This does indeed raise a lots of red flags for money laundering and I would be concerned.

Your only focus should be on protecting yourself so that it is clear you were not knowing involved in this. If I were you, I would be having a good look over the websites below on reporting suspicious activity and speaking to them for advice on next steps re contacting your bank etc. Be very aware of the offence of 'tipping off' and avoid it!
nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/crime-threats/money-laundering-and-illicit-finance/suspicious-activity-reports#:~:text=SARs%20can%20also%20be%20submitted,Fraud%20on%200300%20123%202040.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/money-laundering

Poor you, what a horrible situation to be put in.

You need to report this, otherwise, you will be complicit with what you suspect she is doing.

Tell her to stop sending you payments as you have a mortgage review coming up and you can't have random transactions appearing in and out. Then swerve! Sounds like she's taking online orders/card payments with PayPal to avoid a merchants fee and sending it your way so she can say it's a gift and doesn't have to account for it. PayPal pick up on dodgy behaviour anyway once you've hit a certain amount they will insist on tax details etc.

Don't grass though - not worth it

I have known some people who did dodgy deals. But they did not try to involve or use me.
She is really out of order in trying to involve you. In the long run better you disconnect.

I have not read all posts but I think these small amounts will look like legit orders and because small amounts not attract attention if her books subjected to simple investigation.

One person suggested these small amounts could be softening you up for real involvement.

I would have no qualms about reporting and then cutting this person off. You know she's got form for dodgy behaviour and she clearly thinks very little of you to pull this trick so you owe her no loyalty.

Don't grass though - not worth it

"grass"

It's when people don't "grass" that criminals get away with things.

What an immature schoolyard code of honour you have

I would ring the bank straightaway today. I don't know what measures they can put in place but I think they can block payments from a particular account if they ask them to.

Thanks so much for all of the advice. It's weird because on the transaction it just says

PAYPAL *her name
Richmond

So I'm guessing she's paid me straight from her PayPal but I don't know how to return it to PayPal because it came straight to me bank iyswim

I think I will report it and risk getting my account blocked temporarily, DH pays most of our bills from his account anyway so we should manage for a few weeks/months whilst I can't use my account.

If it is legit then surely the bank will investigate and then leave it? But if it is dodgy then I have no loyalty to her anymore for involving me in something that could get me in trouble.

What a bitch. She is using you for her own gains and putting you in a dangerous position without your consent. Not a friend.
I would phone the bank and I would keep a distance fron this person.

Tell her that if she does it again you will not transfer the money back to her and will consider it a gift.

I personally wouldn't report, but I don't think you would be wrong to do so. It's up to you.

Exactly OP.

Have you got any mutual friends? I wonder if she's doing the same to them as well? It hardly seems worth it from a tax evasion perspective given the amounts she's currently sent so I suspect she's either sending money to several people or she will send larger amounts.

Tell her to stop doing it as you are not comfortable with it, if she doesn't then report it to the bank

I mean you're absolutely going to ruin your friendship if you grass up your mate?

I would just tell her to stop sending money to your account. I would then go NC with her.
I am not sure that it is advisable to go to your bank as your account may be frozen while investigations go on. Furthermore, it may be difficult to prove that your friend was doing anything dodgy given the small amount of money . It could be entirely innocent.
There are cases when people innocently allow family and friends to use their accounts . They then find that they are placed on the CIFAS list. Their accounts are frozen and a black mark is placed on their credit file.
People need to be mindful of the way they use their accounts.

You should at least talk to her first.