Monet Laundering Investigation

The girl just said they needed two forms of i.d - in nanny state Blair's Britain, I'd anticipated that this might be the case hence the reason for carrying a driving licence + my passport.

FWIW, my driving licence is the old style non-photo one so even if they'd only asked for one form of i.d, I'd suspect that such a document wouldn't have been acceptable.

Normally I'd have dug my heels in and asked some awkward questions but I needed the Euros a bit sharpish so I just complied like a lamb :-(

I got 500e at the post office a month ago. No ID requested.

You have to distinguish between a) are you paying with a credit/debit card and b) the amount of cash you wish to change.

It may, of course, be that the girl was inexperienced and just assumed ID was needed for every transaction, rather than for credit cards, and cash over a certain amount. I am sure that unless the amount is 10K or more, private businesses do not need to ask for ID. So, in this case either Thomas Cook made a personal decision, or the girl herself made a mistake?

Have a look at Notices MSB2 and MLR7 at

Under the Money Laundering Regs 2003 Money Service Businesses (MSBs) and High Value Dealers (HVDs) are required to "put in place anti money laundering systems and processes in order to identify and notify suspicious activity to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS)".

There's no £10k limit. You are probably thinking of the point at which HVDs have to register with Customs, which isn't actually £10k but is close to that.

Confirming the identity of customers is an essential part of the controls.

I paid cash. ID is required for credit/debit card transactions. I have no quarrel with that providing an alternative is available.

It might be worth at least talking to the Citizens' Advice Bureau, or maybe investing in a little of a solicitor's time.

It's hard for a newsgroup reader to know exactly what's going on, since, whilst you've said the IR are involved, you've not explained how you know this, and what's been said. Sounds to me like you need to speak to someone in confidence (client-attorney-type confidence), not a public newsgroup.

Jon

I think you mean it might be worth the friend and his wife talking to the CAB etc...

Absolutely, it's a pity Mr Tuvok never got around to finishing (or even starting) his resource center. Try this thread for a little more background:

*shudder* Ai-ai-ai, that's truly bad stuff. Taking all someone's worldlies (on the basis of 50 quids'-worth of cannabis), then telling their legal counsel not to take money from them or represent them -- next they'll be threatening concrete overshoes!

At the risk of thread drift, what was the outcome of that trial? Tried Googling, but didn't see anything obvious.

Jon

MLR 2003 Regulation 4, which defines the identification reqirements, says

"This regulation applies if -

(a) A[bank] and B[customer] form, or agree to form, a business relationship;

(b) in respect of any one-off transaction -

(i) A knows or suspects that the transaction involves money laundering; or

(ii) payment of 15,000 euro or more is to be made by or to B; or

(c) in respect of two or more one-off transactions, it appears to A (whether at the outset or subsequently) that the transactions are linked and involve, in total, the payment of 15,000 euro or more by or to B."

That's where the 10,000 comes from - a 'safe' approximation to 15,000 euros.

He was guilty because he had been using PGP or Screen Washer ? smicker

[...]

Thanks. I stand corrected. The Notices I drew attention to actually make this clear. :-(

It's the thread drift into Star Wars that makes *that* thread truly special, AFAIK Mr Tuvok never came back although (IIRC) you can find him earlier making some rather silly noises about a ruccus in Blackpool.

Flippin eck!

So does this mean that ANY transaction e.g. changing 20 in to euros requires ID validation? Surely not?

Surely changing 150 into euros is not suspicious?

Nope. I bought a thousand euros at Luton airport last Friday, paying cash, and wasn't asked to identify myself. (If I had been, I'd have gone elsewhere!)

Mike.

At all the exchanges I have used at Heathrow I have always been asked for my passport.