NCA seizes gold bars from international money laundering network

The woman was transiting through the airport to catch a connecting flight to Chennai in India when Border Force officers found that she was carrying the bars in her hand luggage.

She initially informed NCA investigators she was taking the bars from a jeweller in Singapore to another jeweller in India. She had no explanation, though, for her strange routing. The gold was seized as suspected proceeds of crime, while the woman was allowed to continue on her journey.

Further enquiries by the NCA revealed invoices the woman was carrying for the gold were fake, and also that the Chennai jeweller did not in fact exist.

Following a two-day hearing at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 26 January, the NCA was awarded forfeiture of the gold bars under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

NCA Branch Commander Andy Noyes said: “Gold is an attractive commodity for criminals to use to move money because relatively small amounts can have a high value. Our investigation pointed to these gold bars belonging to a criminal money laundering network active in both Europe and Asia. We think that the network was attempting to move them through London in order to try and disguise their routing and also avoid the attentions of Indian law enforcement upon arrival there.“

Noyes added: “NCA investigators worked with Indian partners to disprove the story given to officers by the woman carrying the gold bars and show that, on the balance of probabilities, they were proceeds of crime. Working with partners like Border Force, we are determined to do all that we can to disrupt the flow of illicit money through the UK.”