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Dozens of estate agents have been fined more than £500,000 for breaching anti-money laundering requirements, HMRC has announced today (11 October 2022).
The authority named the 68 estate agents that have been fined a total of £519,645 for not complying with rules designed to stop criminals laundering money from illegal activity.
The fines reportedly followed the first prosecution of an estate agent for trading despite not registering with HMRC, to ensure compliance with money laundering regulations.
Felix Uwuigbe, director of Century House Estates Ltd in London, was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid community service and banned from acting as an estate agent for two years after he was convicted of trading for three months while unregistered.
Nick Sharp, HMRC’s deputy director of Economic Crime, said: “We are determined to create a level playing field for businesses who play by the rules. That means taking action against the minority of businesses who fail to fulfil their legal responsibilities under the money laundering regulations.
“Money laundering is not a victimless crime. Our regulations are there to protect businesses from those criminals who would prey on their services to wash their dirty money. Serious and organised crime costs the UK billions of pounds every year and our anti-money laundering supervision is a vital tool in combatting that.”
