Fake exotic dancer companies forfeit 拢5m in laundered cash

Image source, PA Media

Image caption, It is the largest forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime Act in Greater Manchester Police's history

Police have recovered more than 拢5m from three fake companies that offered live-streamed exotic dancers as a guise to launder cash.

The Manchester-based firms laundered more than $60m (拢44m) over 12 months through fake pay-per-view adult entertainment websites.

A judge agreed they should forfeit 拢5.8m, which is the largest amount ever recovered by Greater Manchester Police.

It will fund community projects and tackle organised crime, police said.

The force's economic crime unit discovered the websites were not providing the services advertised and were using a third-party payment process to launder the money through a "sophisticated and highly organised network", they said.

But after reviewing the websites, the payment platform stopped the companies from using its service in January 2020.

The German bank accounts that had been storing the funds were frozen and then put under investigation.

A judge gave the go-ahead for the force to recover the 拢5.8m under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Manchester Magistrates' Court in November.

The company directors had 30 days to appeal but no-one came forward.

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