Solicitors turning blind eye to Money Laundering, and fraud.

2021BJ

Sounds more like fraud than money laundering to me.

74jax

Are you sure the bank said money laundering? Was this in writing? 
Money laundering is usually changing cash (obtained illigally) into spendable money. 
So paying a cheque into a bank from your aunty's bank is not money laundering. 

sheramber

To make things simple
Did they withdraw money from thee aunt's account and pay it into their own business   
a ) before aunt died
b) when she had dementia
and c) with no authority to do so

Rosiebow

Hi, they emptied her one account that had closed.  It was about £90,000.00 roughly. But rather than just put in the £90,000.00 straight into my aunties open account, They separated it into x9 x £10,000.00's..  They then put it in as Fast payments, over about five different days, in small amounts of £10,000.'s..Then they wrote themselves out x3 cheques with three days in between each one. x1 for £20,000.00,  then they waited 3 days and wrote out another cheque for £40,000.00, then waited another 3 days and wrote themselves out a cheques for £21,500.00. then a few days later wrote out smaller cheques for the remaining what was left.  My Auntie was alive when this happened, the way i found the cheque stubs was because my auntie said she was made to sign something, and she doesn't have a clue what it was about. She asked if i would look for paperwork, and i did, and found these cheque stubs, she said what are those, i have never gave anyone that sort of money.
They paid the money into their business while my Auntie was alive, but they did it behind her back, and yes my auntie had dementia. I contacted the bank straight away and they froze her account. The bank spoke to my auntie who told them she never wrote these cheques, my auntie failed security, and the fraud department said that they can tell my auntie has dementia. Because my Auntie has sadly died, i am not allowed to hear this message between the three of us on the phone. I need them to release it so i can give it to the police.  Thanks for all the advice. Its so appreciated... x  We are now at the point of going to mediation as soon as we know the value of the estate, hidden bank accounts are starting to pop, up that they said didnt exist..

Rosiebow

Can my solicitor do a deal with the solicitors on the opposition's side, behind my back ? And we do not know what is going on ? If this is going on, surely its against some kind of rules..  The Information that we ask him to get for us, which would convict these fraudsters, he is delaying, and then making mistakes ect... Really playing games...It really feels that he doesnt want us to get the outcome that we want. 

sassyblue

What's happened is fraud, not money laundering. 

You go to mediation to try and resolve issues before you apply for court action, so it’s possible your solicitor is trying to get you and the other side together to come to an agreement whereby they repay all, or some, of the funds they stole to avoid Court and the police.

it’s up to you how you want to proceed. 

Is there enough money in the estate that you could all have your share minus what they have already taken?  If so, that may be an idea but I don’t know if matters have gone beyond that now, or first thing tomorrow you go to the Police and let them gather the evidence they need including the bank statements, you don’t need to provide them to the police they will obtain them from the bank themselves so they know they are genuine.

elsien

I think it is extremely unlikely that your solicitor is playing games and trying to stop you from getting what you want.

Far more likely that that is a (probably) unjustified perception on your part because for whatever reason the communication between you is not particularly effective. 

Don’t go looking for conspiracies when there are simpler explanations. 

sassyblue

Rosiebow said:

Can my solicitor do a deal with the solicitors on the opposition's side, behind my back ? And we do not know what is going on ? If this is going on, surely its against some kind of rules..  The Information that we ask him to get for us, which would convict these fraudsters, he is delaying, and then making mistakes ect... Really playing games...It really feels that he doesnt want us to get the outcome that we want. 

No, he can’t do a deal behind your back. You are the client and you decide.

it’s possible he may have a conversation with them in terms of a potential resolution between you both but he should report that to you, and as I said, you ultimately decide if you will accept - assuming the other side agree which is the relatives who took the money.

btw, he can ask for the evidence you want but do you really think those relatives will provide it if it incriminates them?   Sorry but you are foolish if you think so. 

I do wonder if there's an element here of you not listening to advice. You say you know 'the outcome you want' and you are asking for bank statements and recordings of telephone calls that is beyond yours and the Solicitors remit, therefore he is not failing in his duty, he simply isn’t at liberty to obtain what you are demanding. Please re-read any letters he has sent you and see what he has advised you about mediation and steps to resolve this matter.  Not listening to advice is what escalates costs sometimes and you are free to seek the advice of another solicitor at any time if you don’t trust your solicitor.

Armorica

I'm fairly sure it's a criminal offence for banks to tell you that something is money laundering. And this really doesn't sound like money laundering - there is a legitimate source of funds even if obtained through deception and seriously suspicious behaviour (like multiple smaller payments).

The SRA sounds one way to go. But you will need to provide clear and coherent information. And it's not really clear if your solicitor is in the wrong - or whether you're disagreeing with the advice being given and not following the appropriate channels for things to progress.
As others have said, your solicitor doesn't have a right to get bank statements and call recordings. The right to obtain such information would need to be sought through the courts e.g. a civil proceeding your solicitor brought on your behalf, or criminal proceedings brought by the police or other authorities.

naedanger

Rosiebow said:

Can my solicitor do a deal with the solicitors on the opposition's side, behind my back ? And we do not know what is going on ? If this is going on, surely its against some kind of rules..  The Information that we ask him to get for us, which would convict these fraudsters, he is delaying, and then making mistakes ect... Really playing games...It really feels that he doesnt want us to get the outcome that we want. 

Are you certain the solicitors are your solicitors?

If they are, and you are unhappy with them, then you can replace them with another firm. Of course that will cost more money but may be the way to go if you are very unhappy with them and you cannot get them to address your concerns.