Criminal link ends sales of euro note
Source: Agencies |
May 14, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITISH money exchange offices have stopped selling 500-euro banknotes after police discovered they were being used almost exclusively by criminals, officials said yesterday.
Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency said more than 90 percent of the banknotes' use had been by criminal gangs, drug dealers and money launderers.
"SOCA has concluded that there is no credible legitimate use for the 500-euro note in the UK in the volumes currently supplied, and that easy access to them in the UK is a key enabler of criminal activity, allowing criminals operating here to move large volumes of cash effectively."
The action does not mean the banknote is banned in Britain - tourists will be able to sell them if they bring them into the country - but it will not be possible to buy them from exchange offices.
SOCA said its analysis had found the 500-euro note, worth about 425 pounds or US$630, was used in all stages of money laundering as well as in low-level criminality and tax evasion.
The denomination is particularly attractive to criminals in Britain because it takes up less than a tenth of the space of the alternatives in sterling, making smuggling easier.
An adult male "mule" could stuff and swallow 150,000 euros while 20,000 euros could be hidden in a cigarette packet.
In Britain, most of the notes had been supplied by small independent money service businesses (MSB) rather than large high street outlets, SOCA said.
It found one MSB in London had purchased about 4 million euros in 500-euro notes for onward sale.
The agency said it would now be monitoring 200-euro notes to see if there was any increase in demand for them instead.
Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency said more than 90 percent of the banknotes' use had been by criminal gangs, drug dealers and money launderers.
"SOCA has concluded that there is no credible legitimate use for the 500-euro note in the UK in the volumes currently supplied, and that easy access to them in the UK is a key enabler of criminal activity, allowing criminals operating here to move large volumes of cash effectively."
The action does not mean the banknote is banned in Britain - tourists will be able to sell them if they bring them into the country - but it will not be possible to buy them from exchange offices.
SOCA said its analysis had found the 500-euro note, worth about 425 pounds or US$630, was used in all stages of money laundering as well as in low-level criminality and tax evasion.
The denomination is particularly attractive to criminals in Britain because it takes up less than a tenth of the space of the alternatives in sterling, making smuggling easier.
An adult male "mule" could stuff and swallow 150,000 euros while 20,000 euros could be hidden in a cigarette packet.
In Britain, most of the notes had been supplied by small independent money service businesses (MSB) rather than large high street outlets, SOCA said.
It found one MSB in London had purchased about 4 million euros in 500-euro notes for onward sale.
The agency said it would now be monitoring 200-euro notes to see if there was any increase in demand for them instead.
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