| PT 2002-12-29 |
| IT IS a small branch of a High Street bank somewhere in Scotland. A ‘customer’ turns up once a fortnight and deposits half a million in what later turns out to be drug money. And no one thinks to tip off the police.
Welcome to the trillion pound global menace called money-laundering. The scale of the ‘industry’ defies belief: according to the International Monetary Fund it involves between 2% and 5% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (or £1.3 trillion), and it affects every level of society. And it affects Scotland. An investigation by this newspaper has found evidence that everything from back street tanning salons to high street banks are being used - usually unawares - by criminals. |
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