In its first AML prosecution of a high value dealer, the UK’s HMRC has fined Bedfordshire company director Grenville Eames £16,000 for failing to abide by the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
Eames’ company, JGE Commercials Limited, was also fined £16,000 and ordered to pay a confiscation order of £135,900 within three months.
Eames had registered his company – a truck and plant hire company which buys and sells commercial and large plant vehicles – as a High Value Dealer with HMRC because he wanted to continue dealing in large amounts of cash, and thus became subject to the requirements of the Regs.
And under the Regs, all HVDs who take €15,000 (in any currency) or more in cash must provide documentary evidence of checks made on the client’s identity and the source of the funds for the transaction.
Eames was arrested after early morning raids at his home and business addresses in September 2012, and investigations showed that he had failed to keep the required records for large transactions totalling an estimated £170,000.
According to Adrian Farley, the man from the HMRC:
“The money laundering regulations are in place for a very good reason, to protect the public and to stop crooks benefiting from their criminal profits.
Eames kept poor records and had numerous chances to correct the situation but failed to do so. As a result he was charged and prosecuted.”
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