To think that (some) vaping shops and barbers are fronts ....

[crockofshite]

..... for dodgy dealings? There are so many of these shops in every high street, how can there be enough customers to support them?

But the only money you could move in and out would be electronic. So that money is already clean? I'm sure there's an answer to this. I just don't know what it is!

Everyone on MN seems obsessed with cash for money laundering. You can launder electronic money as well.
Someone who has made dodgy money can deposit that money in a bank account, Banks have to do checks about where the money has come from. A dodgy estate agent can provide paperwork and confirmation that this money is from a sale of a house.

@JoyousGreyOrca oh I see. Thank you.

100% We've just had a load of barbers pop up in our small farming town and lo and behold a vape shop selling all sorts right smack bang next door.
Not to mention other suspicious stuff backing that up....

I'm genuinely waiting for it to be raided by authorities considering I was offered 50g of very clearly illegitimate tobacco for under a tenner 🤣🤣 anyone else?

100%- I used to live in London and used to think this! Lots of barbers along same street or fried chicken shops, nail bars, corner shops that sell barely anything!!

The barbers are likely victims of the local so called "security firm". Forced to pay for "protection". Apparently licenced premises are frequently victims too.

Local barbers got raided last year - they were dealing drugs from the premises. They weren't as clever as they thought they were, it was obvious that no-one needed a haircut 3 times a week and considering they were in a shopping centre it was easy to watch what was going on.

English wasn't their first language, and they thought there were being discrete by discussing their dealings in their own language, again they weren't very clever as was easy enough for an undercover police officer who also spoke the language to understand what they were talking about!

No of course not. I realise it's been going on for decades. I just decided to start a thread about it.

there's a couple of places near where I live, a corner shop, flower shop, hardware store and a 'restaurant' , permanently empty of customers or not open for business which me and my neighbours have been suspicious of for years / decades.

Now it's barbers and vaping shops everywhere.

Or protection racket? Do those still exist?

You can add all the 'American Candy' shops to the list as well. All fronts for money laundering - never let my kids go near them!

I often wonder if the shops set up as a front for money laundering actually have any real customers, or whether the whole thing is, well, a facade? Thinking about the post uothread about the salon with the stream if men coming in and out. Or do some of these dodgy businesses actually have real customers who don't know what happens to the cash once it goes on the till / don't realise their "change" is laundered cash? 🤔

Vape shops, barbers and American candy. Part of my work is to shut them down.

In my city there's more vape and charity shops to general retail shops. We have a dying town centre but still 6 vape shops and that's not including the general convenience shops that also sell vapes. I have no idea how people can afford the rent just on vape sales in an oversaturated market and another one is set to pop up soon.

That's obviously not including the ones on the outskirts of town too. I definitely think it must be a front.

I spoke to an ex-policeman about this - he said the police have to concentrate their resources on violent crime and don’t have the manpower to look at shops like these. Scary stuff - especially when there are so many. I live in a smallish town and there must be 12 Turkish barber shops.

Perhaps they get most of the way through a transaction and then lo and behold it all falls through after the "deposit" has been paid, so it then needs to be refunded? That's a common money laundering trick that (genuine) conveyancers are always on the alert for.

The barbers a PP mentions sounds more like victims of the local protection racket. The "pay up or you might find there's a little accident here..." type.
Used to be quite common here, everyone knew which family it was and where they lived....

The reason these fronts are left can be varied: but are mostly either not the man power to shut it down or watching it to trace back to the "bigger" organisation behind them. Every so often they do get raided and shut down but they just move to a different shop

Illicit tobacco and sweets. Duty not paid, manufactured and imported illegally, full of illegal chemicals. Illegal vapes with a huge capacity. Etc etc.

There is a brightly lit up Neon yellow American candy store in our village. It is lit up and glaring away for hours a day until 11pm. I regularly walk my dog past there 2/3 times a day and have never seen one customer in there. Odd. Used to be a lovely little gift shop previously. Also about three turkish barbers in our village but they do seem to be busy.

I was asking about the estate agents, but yes I dread to think what's in some vapes!

The small town/suburb that I work in has a road about 1/4 mile long - it has 15 'barbers' 'nail bars' 'european mini-markets' 'beauty bars' 'massage places' and another 12 take aways of which 3 are legit as they have been there for over 40 years! There is also a 'Synergy Pharmacy' which has just had its sign put up but no sign of activity in the shop itself.

Thing to remember about money laundering is that it needs a series of transactions. Not just one.
The money will be laundered through multiple steps, including online gambling in fixed games.

Oh tell us more @Lovemybunnies (insofar as you're allowed to)

I live in a small town and I'd say at least half the shops are dodgy

There is a pizza place round the corner to work,it's been here as long as I have and I've never once seen a customer in it

It's about the size of a box room bedroom,at least 4 men at any one time in there and no customers

I've never met anyone who's bought a pizza from them either

At least 10 vape shops,6/7 turkish barbers,20+ nail shops and a sunbed shop

I moved here from a big well known city and it was every other shop

Dd as a teen loved the American candy shops-if I'd have known then what I know now,she wouldn't have gone near them

The local nail shop would get raided every 6 months,but it doesn't stop everyone from getting their nails done there

It's happening all over the place

Ooh, interesting. What's your role? Why aren't there more checks or scrutiny before they are allowed to open?