Criminal law solicitor Birmingham
Money laundering is notably complex, yet the rules and regulations are easy to fall foul of.
Accountants and solicitors' firms, as well as other organisations, regularly come to us for advice - either on behalf of their clients, or to make sure they themselves are not falling foul of money laundering regulations inadvertently, when they deal with funds and assets on behalf of their own clients.
This is an area of particular expertise for our team of financial crime solicitors and we have published articles and spoken at conferences on the subject. The introduction of the Proceeds of Crime Act in 2002 placed a greater focus on money laundering - since then the number of charges and prosecutions in this area has increased massively, with a large emphasis on recovering or confiscating associated funds.
In a money laundering case, those in possession of large amounts of cash are investigated on the presumption that the cash is related to criminal activity. In many cases the prosecution does not need to prove what the criminal activity is – inferences are drawn in relation to the circumstances surrounding the cash.
In such an instance, our financial crime and fraud solicitors will aim to establish an audit trail of the cash, possibly involving the expert assistance of forensic accountants to prepare a full historical analysis.
Ben Henry heads up the Money Laundering Department.