Latest news with #EconomicCrimeUnit
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Police put out urgent warning over scammers pretending to be... the POLICE: Brits conned out of £1,000s in just 24 hours - here's how to keep yourself safe
Police in Northamptonshire have issued an urgent warning after two residents were cruelly tricked out of thousands of pounds by scammers posing as officials from a bank and the Met Police. The alarming reports, both made on Monday, are believed to be part of a courier fraud operation - a type of heartless scam where fraudsters impersonate banks, police officers, or other official bodies to steal money and personal details from unsuspecting victims. In both cases, the victims were contacted by what police describes as 'convincing' callers who persuaded them to hand over confidential information and large sums of money before a so-called 'courier' was dispatched to collect the cash or items. The force's Economic Crime Unit has now issued a stark warning to the public to remain vigilant, particularly urging people to speak to elderly or vulnerable family members. They also implored people to remember that genuine callers would never ask for bank details or card details, or ask anyone to withdraw cash, transfer funds, purchase expensive items, or ask someone to play a part in an undercover investigation. Detective Sergeant Matt Crick said: 'In both these reports, the callers were taken in by what sounded like convincing scenarios – one involving the caller's bank, and the other from people pretending to be police officers – and have ended up losing thousands of pounds to criminals. 'Crimes like this cause deep distress to victims, who often feel embarrassed that they believed what they were being told, but offenders take care to make their requests sound both convincing and urgent. 'I want to stress that the police, nor any financial institution, would call you out of the blue and ask you for your bank cards, cash or any financial details. 'If you receive an unexpected call from someone claiming to be from the police, ask for their collar number then hang up, wait five minutes and then call 101 to verify or report what has happened. 'You will hear a pre-recorded operator message at the start of your call – if not, hang up again and use a different phone if possible. 'We know courier fraudsters often target people in the same area over a number of days, to make the collection of any money or bank cards easier for them, so we are urgently asking people to be alert to this sort of crime, including talking to elderly or potentially vulnerable relatives, friends and neighbours to help people spot and avoid such scams.' It comes after a Chinese student in Northern Ireland was conned out of £200,000 in 2023 after two men posing as Beijing police officers threatened her with arrest if she did not pay up. After the transferal of funds, the woman never heard from the men again. Detective Superintendent Richard Thornton said at the time: 'This is a really despicable, calculated crime. 'These fraudsters contacted the student online, and even went as far as dressing in uniforms claiming to be officers from 'Beijing Police'. 'These fraudsters went to great lengths to make themselves appear genuine, but that's the last thing they were.' And in October, urgent warnings were being circulated after a man dressed up as a traffic warden tried to scam a woman out of £4,000. The victim - who had just parked her car near a hospital - was told she must hand over her bank card or she would be fined. Moments later, the fraudster opened the car door and jumped out before making a run for it with the motorist's card. Police said that soon after, the woman received a message from her bank saying that a £4,000 withdrawal had attempted to be made on her account. The suspicious bank had fortunately stopped the transaction.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man arrested after large amount of cash and luxury watch found in raid
A 52 year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering after police found £15,000 and Rolex watch during a raid yesterday, May 15. Officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Money Laundering team, part of GMP's Economic Crime Unit, carried out a warrant at a business premises on Bury New Road, Cheetham Hill as part of an operation to tackle money laundering in Greater Manchester. During a search, £15,000 in cash and a Rolex watch were seized. One man, 52, was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and remains in custody ahead of being questioned. The arrest was a result of an intelligence-led investigation designed to disrupt and dismantle serious and organised criminal finances say police. (Image: GMP) Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to the Bury Times morning newsletter as well as our breaking news alerts. Detective Inspector Sarah Langley from GMP's Economic Crime Unit, said: 'The Money Laundering Team conducted the warrant today which was a culmination of complex proactive policing to tackle criminal finances. "The result today will significantly disrupt this kind of activity that lines the pockets of organised crime groups. "This is money and assets that we think have been obtained through criminal means and we are determined to ensure that anyone found to be responsible for this offence will be brought to justice and have anything of value in their name seized. 'We utilise all powers available to us to seize assets from those who we suspect are involved in organised crime. We hope the activity today sends a message to anyone engaged in this activity to expect a robust and relentless response from us. READ NEXT: Crews back in town for second day of filming major TV drama READ NEXT: Office block vandalised with red paint in 'Anti-Semitic' attack 'Last year through activity that occurred across the force, a total of £17,715,283.24 was seized and recovered from criminals and through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS), a proportion of the money that is seized from criminals as a result of policing activity is given back to the community. 'Already this tax year since 1 April 2025, the teams in the unit have already forfeited over £1 million of cash and the work continues to strip those who are blighting our communities of their assets that are used to further criminality.' (Image: GMP) Anyone with information about suspicious financial activity can report it to police online through the online crime reporting for or by calling 101. You can also report via the GMP Live Chat service on their website. Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Criminal gang exploited Ukraine war to launder millions of pounds, court hears
A criminal gang exploited the Ukraine war to launder millions of pounds through the sale of vehicles needed in the fight against Russia. Two members of the group were jailed on Monday after using criminal cash to buy vans and lorries in the UK before selling them to Ukraine. Valeriy Popovych, 52, and Vitaliy Lutsak, 43, were both sentenced to six years and six months at Wood Green Crown Court following a five-week long trial. The court heard that after selling the vehicles to Ukraine, the earnings were then converted into cryptocurrency. The men were found guilty of transferring criminal property and running an unregistered money service business, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. Popovych's wife, Oskana Popovych, 42, was also found guilty of the same charges and is due to be sentenced on May 30. In total, the men laundered more than £6 million in just over a year. Popovych ran an export business, Sprint Commercial Ltd, which bought vehicles in the UK from legitimate traders and sold them in Ukraine. His wife, Oskana, was also employed by the business. After buying the vans with criminal cash, the money was converted to cryptocurrency. Lutsak acted as the money co-ordinator and would send the Popovychs to collect criminal cash from 'customers' in the UK. During the investigation, officers found more than $14 million in cryptocurrency had passed through his 'crypto wallets' stored on his computer. Popovych was arrested in Twickenham in June 2023 and officers discovered more than £60,000 in cash in the car. During a further search at his address on Gloucester Road in Feltham, officers recovered £130,000 in cash. Following Popovych's arrest, an investigation by the Economic Crime Unit discovered the link to Oksana and Lutsak, who were arrested at their homes in May last year. Detective Constable Harry Davies, who led the investigation, said: 'Mr Popovych presented himself as a hard-working, legitimate tradesman and used his reputation within the second-hand lorry market to clean criminal cash. He also callously saw the conflict in Ukraine as a lucrative business opportunity.' Negeen Momtahen, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Together, these defendants used an export business as a front to launder millions of pounds of criminal cash across borders. 'They attempted to conceal the source of this illicit money by using secret token exchanges and cryptocurrency. 'We will be pursuing confiscation proceedings against the defendants to remove any available criminal benefits gained from this enterprise.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The National
03-04-2025
- Business
- The National
UK police raid dozens of 'Turkish' barbers in money laundering crackdown
UK police have carried out a series of raids on barber shops suspected of being used as fronts for criminal activity such as money laundering. The businesses are often advertised as Turkish barber shops, but are more often run by Kurds or Albanians authorities said, and have been linked to hiding the profits of criminal people smuggling gangs. There are 18,411 barber shops in the UK, but recent years have seen a rapid expansion with more than 750 opening in 2024. That's a growth rate of more than 50 per cent since 2018, according to the latest data. West Mercia Police, covering Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, is one force cracking down on barber shops. Bodycam footage shows its officers smashing through doors to barber shops and seizing money. Dan Fenn, detective inspector in West Mercia's Economic Crime Unit, said the high cash turnover of these businesses made them 'ideal for disguising illicit activities'. 'Whilst these businesses appear legitimate, they were actually tools for criminals to hide illegal cash flow,' he added. After launching a dedicated operation to tackle the problem, the force carried out 33 raids, seizing more than £500,000 in illicit funds and arresting four people. Immigration officers also made four further arrests. Police, along with officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and HMRC tax inspectors, have carried out raids across the UK on a number of barber shops and seized hundreds of thousands of pounds. A representative of the NCA said the authority was 'committed to disrupting the flow of illicit cash and preventing organised criminals from benefiting from their crimes'. 'Intelligence linking the use of barber shops, as well as other cash-intensive businesses, to money laundering and other criminality has risen in recent years,' the representative said. 'To respond to this threat the NCA has co-ordinated multi-agency law enforcement action targeting barber shops where suspicious activity has been identified, and there are possible connections to organised crime.' Two high-profile Iraqi Kurdish people smugglers based in the UK both ran barber shops to disguise their criminal activities. Amanj Hasan Zada, 35, ran an operation in the town of Preston, co-ordinating small boat crossings, for which he was eventually jailed for 17 years in 2024, Zada was seen in a YouTube video at a party with musicians singing in Kurdish, feting him as 'the best smuggler' while he threw cash at them and fired a gun in the air in celebration. Recent arrests of alleged smugglers in Kurdistan were made of three men alleged to be part of his network. An investigation by The National recently revealed that the action against Zada had forced some people smugglers, including a crime boss, into hiding. Similarly, Hewa Rahimpur used his seemingly modest barber shop in East London as a front for a people-smuggling operation that transported 10,000 migrants across the English Channel in small boats, earning up to £260,000 per trip. Rahimpur was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Belgium in 2023.
