Almost 200 estate agents fined by HMRC for AML breaches – London Wallet

Close to 200 estate agencies have been including in the latest list of businesses who have breached money laundering regulations.

In total, HMRC has issued 336 penalties with a total value of more than £3.2m.

They include 194 estate agents to the total value of £1,090,610, along with 91 account service providers to the total value of £536,416, as well as 12 MSBs including a fine of nearly £1m for the company Dahabshiil.

The majority of the fines (303) in the latest publication are for trading while unregistered.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting businesses to protect themselves from criminal who prey on their services. That includes taking action against the minority who fail to fulfil their legal obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations.”

HMRC, one of 25 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisors in the UK, says it was unable to provide details on specific cases.