Laundering money the NatWest way

[planetgeli]

This story has a bit of a wow factor. Well, no, more a WTF? factor.

You thought money laundering might be complex. Turns out all you need is a few bin bags.

NatWest fined £265m after bin bags of cash laundered

The state-backed bank had pleaded guilty to failing to prevent money-laundering of nearly £400m.

www.bbc.co.uk

Summary. Company tells bank they'll have £15 million annual turnover. This translates into about £70 million, most of it delivered in cash, sometimes in bin bags, all to about 50 banks.

But the bank got suspicious right?

The company... was initially marked as "high-risk", but that was downgraded in December 2013.

The FCA's lawyer Clare Montgomery said there "was a rapid escalation in the amount of cash" being deposited from November 2013, with figures reaching up to £1.8m a day. By 2014, Fowler Oldfield was NatWest's "single most lucrative" client in the Bradford area.
Southall received about £42m in cash between January 2015 and March 2016, for example, but no report was made that it was suspicious.

Hmmm. Almost like the bank might have had some meeting or other around Nov/Dec 2013. With someone.

But there were other safeguards obviously!

NatWest did not properly look into numerous warnings generated by its systems, the FCA lawyer said earlier on Monday.
One rule designed to flag suspicious activity was disabled by the bank because it created too many alerts, so the bank decided it should be deactivated"

Hmmmm. Ok. But...

NatWest also recorded cash deposits by Fowler Oldfield as cheques between 2008 and March 2017.

Admin error!

It's all just 'failings', no corruption. Look. A judge said so.

The state-backed bank was "in no way complicit in the money-laundering which took place", the judge said at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
But they added: "Without the bank's failings, the money could not have been laundered."

There we are then.

But wait. The story obviously hints at another trial. About the money launderers themselves. Who laundered £400 million through NatWest and their 'failings'. In bin bags. So I googled. And the only people who have ever been sentenced in this whole debacle are the poor bloody couriers, 4 of them, who were 'hired' to take bin bags of cash into branches - these people were often in debt and hired cheaply to do this...by people who have got away scot free. Like NatWest.

The £365m money laundering den behind Natwest scandal

Natwest, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, was this week revealed to have provided banking services to the firm at the centre of the criminal operation - gold dealer Fowler Oldfield.

www.thisismoney.co.uk

 

[DaveCinzano]

The state-backed bank was "in no way complicit in the money-laundering which took place", the judge said at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
But they added: "Without the bank's failings, the money could not have been laundered."

Not so much Schrödinger's Cat as Schrödinger's Monkey (or rather 730,000 monkeys)

 

[Sue]

And to think of all that mandatory training I was forced to do in various companies about AML and financial crime.

Eta Though now i come to think of it, there was absolutely no mention of people rocking up with loads of cash in bin bags being potentially dodgy. A clear training fail.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

the only people who have ever been sentenced in this whole debacle are the poor bloody couriers, 4 of them, who were 'hired' to take bin bags of cash into branches - these people were often in debt and hired cheaply to do this...by people who have got away scot free. Like NatWest.

It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?

 

[kenny g]

As an ft comment said. Presumably all the bonuses gained off the inflated turnovers will be returned???

 

[not henry]

My mother in Scotland used to go into the nationwide building society on an occasional basis and pay £50 or so into my account. One day when she went in, she was taken to one side and told this practice could not continue due to the money laundering regulations. She is 84 years old and the sums were really quite inconsequential. Still, rules is rules.