Anti Money Laundering Checks For Property Developers and Firms

Money launderers have become so sophisticated in their techniques, that it can be incredibly difficult to spot, but there are a number of red flags to look out for, and for property developers, the main one will be sources of cash. In order to complete the placement and layering stages of money laundering, criminals tend to either break up large sums of dirty cash into smaller amounts in an effort to hide its original source or use shell companies to move larger sums in an attempt to disguise their own identity. So when a client attempts to move a very large sum, or lots of smaller ones – especially if they are using ‘business’ rather than personal accounts - this should be investigated as suspicious.

The key way in which property developers can prevent money laundering is to ensure their customer due diligence is absolutely watertight. This means running full AML checks on all clients – individuals and corporates – to ensure they are who they say they are. Individual checks will identify, verify and screen the individual, while a business/corporate check will verify the business, and identify the key people associated with that business, and – importantly - its ultimate beneficial owner. Being able to navigate the opaque and complicated corporate structures financial criminals use to try and hide their activities is absolutely crucial in preventing money laundering, because if an individual has attempted to hide their true identity – and the true source of their funds – through multiple corporate layers and anonymous accounts, you will be able to spot it and stop it.