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?

Tell her your bank have blocked your account cos these transactions have flagged as suspicious, she’ll stop

Do NOT do this. If you let someone know that they are suspected of money launderinf then that is a criminal offence called 'tipping-off'.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

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

thank you

That's very easy for you to say when you don't have to deal with the fallout of it.

Instead of getting your account suspended, if she tries again can you just reply you can't refund the money as your account has been suspended due to suspicious activity. She doesn't need to know it hasn't actually happened and it might put the wind up her not to send you money again.

I googled and this is know as micro money laundering. I would definitely report it to your bank and see what they advise. I would assume they could transfer your account to a new account number/sort code but how exactly is she sending you the money via PayPal, is it to your PayPal account, mobile number or does she just have your account details? (I assume the latter but it's worth being sure).

@JuniperFather what you say.

We have this concern a lot with my work place, we ask for money on account before we will start work (usually £500.00) and we now can’t do that until we have all the client’s ID and done our money laundering checks. The risk is they will transfer us a much bigger amount such as £5000 or even £50000 so then we have to transfer it back and it shows as coming from a legitimate firm the money is now “clean”.

It’s definitely dodgy tell her to stop and if she doesn’t I’d contact the bank and see if they can barr her transactions or something?

I'd be tempted to tell her the second payment cleared my overdraft and the bank have now removed my overdraft facility so I didn't have the money to give her.

Tempted but wouldn't do it.

Re ''Money Laundering''...I tried to pay £5 into a dog charity at their bank...and they said
'Can't be done! Money Laundering'

I said ''It is a registered charity, they are collecting for vet's fees ...
The bank did relent in this instance, but it was a surprise.

@DimidDavilby

You should at least talk to her first.

No. Don't give her any of a heads up and don't put yourself in any position where you might be seen as tipping her off. Tell your bank and tell the police. She is trying to involve you in something very dubious and you don't owe her any kind of friendly chat about it.

thank you

That's very easy for you to say when you don't have to deal with the fallout of it.

She isn't dealing with the Kray Twins.

She is a C.F.

Not acting on suspicions of money laundering can be a criminal offence. Report it to your bank now. Much better than to get caught up in a future investigation.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

thank you

That's very easy for you to say when you don't have to deal with the fallout of it.

She isn't dealing with the Kray Twins.

I was referring more to the friendship fall out, mutual friends etc.

I think I'd tell her to stop doing it. If she carries on after that warning, then I'd do something about it.

What 'friend' uses people like this? Losing this friendship would be no loss.

If you want to stop her but don’t want to report (I used to work for a bank, with AML rules we would block accounts for months) then just tell her your accounts are being frozen because you are being investigated for Money Laundering. That’ll scare her off using your accounts ever again.

i would change my paypal account to a different email address & name if possible and not tell her.

DOD GEE

HMRC have the same in investigative powers as counter terrorism police now.

If the CF is doing this with you, you can bet your bottom dollar she is doing it elsewhere.

So, if and when she does get caught, the paper trail will lead back to you. You have declared publicly on an open forum, you suspect Money Laundering, yet have failed to declare it. You can see how very quickly you have been caught up in her deceit. I have friends in the SFO and HMRC, and they basically have been given a heads up, that they will be very very busy over the coming years (have to make up that bailout somehow)

Ethics aside, this person does not seem like someone I would want as a friend.

Some really bad advice here in respect of tipping off. The OP is not in scope for the consequences of tipping off given she is a private individual and not a regulated firm (or employee thereof, at least in this context).

I asked DH who is in the securities and fraud work area (includes money laundering) - he says you should be wary.

Report it to PayPal and discuss it with them.

Other PayPal scams while I'm here.

thetechieguy.com/paypal-scams/

Oh and also terrible advice to say that paypal isn’t used by money launderers - it absolutely is.

So you knew about the tax evasion and selling dodgy goods, but turned a blind eye. And you’re only concerned now because it’s affecting you directly?

@Helpnamebabyboy

You are incorrect in this instance, as a general rule, one would be in a regulated firm, and have to disclose any activity. However, the law does span outside of regulated activity.

If a person makes an unlawful disclosure which is likely to prejudice a money laundering investigation, then this carries the 5 year maximum prison sentance and /or unlimited fines.

Easiest thing to get out of it...next time say I'm in my overdraft so the money you just send me got eaten up by that. She won't do that again

@Helpnamebabyboy Unless OP knew that there was an investigation ongoing, I guess?

I mean personally (and without any legal knowledge of how moneylaundering works) I wouldn't get bogged down in an argument about moneylaundering with the friend anyway. I'd just say "You're a grown woman running a business, you know how to use bank accounts and I'm fed up with having to transfer money back to you all the time. I don't want money in my bank account that isn't mine. Don't do this again."