Large sum of cash

inspectorperez

I think you are perfectly right to flag up Money Laundering issues with your partner in the context you describe. To the best of my knowledge a private customer depositing over £5,000 in cash would give rise to a duty on the part of the receiving Bank to issue a "Suspicious Activity Report" to the relevant authority. It would be difficult for a professional advisor to offer advice I guess because in effect they could be seen as aiding and abetting someone seeking to circumvent tax regulations. This might seem completely OTT but it has been that way since the Proceeds of Crime Act was first introduced (2002 from memory). Unfortunately this catches all innocent folk who distrust financial institutions for whatever reason and prefer to retain surplus cash rather than bank it. Can't offer any advice really other than suggest as others have done that the cash is used for your day to day living expenses in priority to debit or credit cards. Even if you offered an explanation to your bank, that does not necessarily relieve them of the reporting responsibility.

Shakin_Steve

You say it could take months or even years to use it as your daily spend, but so what? As long as you use the £20's that will most likely go out of circulation first, it should be ok. I'm sure you could deposit the odd £1000 or £500 once things get back to normal.

notveryeducated

If you try to get around raising suspicions, this is the actual mindset of somebody actually money laundering.

NedS

notveryeducated said:

If you try to get around raising suspicions, this is the actual mindset of somebody actually money laundering.

Absolutely, but what is the alternative? If you wander into the bank and tell the truth - I have £17k that I've squirreled away in a shoe box over the last 10 years that I'd like to deposit, everything will be just fine? If it were really that easy then money launderers wouldn't need to go to the efforts they do, would they?

In reality the authorities have to draw a line in the sand as to what is considered suspicious and what isn't. They are obviously not going to tell you where the line is drawn as that would help criminals evade suspicion / detection. As a result, innocent people will inevitably come under suspicion if they are unfortunate enough to fall the wrong side of the line. That is simply the reality of the situation.

Gray001

I once done this  Had about 20k in cash and decided it was best in the bank. I made several large deposits. I got a call from them eventually asking very personal questions about where it came from etc... made me feel like a criminal. I think as above, yes it would he best to make little deposits at a time so not to arouse suspicion  say 1 or 2k. Maybe have 2 or 3 bank accounts....

IvanDP

Thanks for all the responses folks, as I said much appreciated.
I think the way to go will be to make regular smaller deposits into different bank accounts.
Any advice on what amounts and how regularly would be ok?

BrownTrout

Pay council tax in one go at post office if allowed etc.  That will take a decent chunk. Or pay a year in advance to!. 

NedS

IvanDP said:

Thanks for all the responses folks, as I said much appreciated.
I think the way to go will be to make regular smaller deposits into different bank accounts.
Any advice on what amounts and how regularly would be ok?

Impossible to answer as the banks will not tell you that, for obvious reasons. It will probably vary from customer to customer too, depending on what is normal for you. Someone who earns £150K per year could probably pay in more cash faster without it being flagged as suspicious than someone who normally earns less than £1000/month. So base it on what could be considered normal / reasonable relative to someone with your level of income.

badger09

IvanDP said:

Given all the scare stories about bank accounts being locked due to suspicious activity when making large deposits, I am after some advice on behalf of my partner.
Many years ago, (before we met) due to circumstances beyond her control. she was left homeless and penniless.
Since then, and against my advice, she has squirreled money away at home in a safe.
I have finally convinced her it is not safe and it should be somewhere more secure.
Now we have the problem of how to deposit such a large sum of cash into a bank without raising suspicions.
All advice would be greatly appreciated.
(Any further details can be supplied should they be needed)

What is the source of this £17k in cash that she has 'squirrelled away'? 

IvanDP

badger09 said:

What is the source of this £17k in cash that she has 'squirrelled away'? 

Just extra cash from what she earned over the years.