NatWest money laundering case linked to second criminal trial
LONDON - Criminal money laundering charges against British state-backed bank NatWest NWG.L are linked to a separate case against 13 individuals based in cities across the country, prosecutors have told Reuters.
Britain's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct
Authority (FCA), started a criminal action against NatWest on Tuesday, making
it the first bank to be charged under a 2007 money laundering law.
The FCA accused NatWest of failing to monitor suspect
activity by a client that deposited about 365 million pounds($500 million) in
its accounts over five years, of which 264 million was in cash.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement to
Reuters on Thursday that the FCA's proceedings against NatWest involved the
same accounts linked to the 13 individuals it has charged separately with money
laundering offences.
Reuters and other media reported on Tuesday that Fowler
Oldfield, a gold dealership in Bradford that has since been liquidated, was the
NatWest customer linked to the FCA action.
Among the individuals the CPS has charged are former gold
dealer James Stunt, who gained notoriety in the British press for his lavish
lifestyle before going bankrupt, and two former Fowler Oldfield directors,
Gregory Frankel and Daniel Rawson.
NatWest declined to comment on the CPS statement.
Law firm Janes Solicitors, which is representing Stunt,
declined to comment. Ian Lewis, a partner at JMW Solicitors which is
representing Frankel and Rawson, said: "We are defending these criminal
proceedings vigorously."
NatWest said on Tuesday it took preventing money laundering
"extremely seriously" and was cooperating with the FCA investigation.
If convicted, it could face an unlimited fine.
Fowler Oldfield was shut down following a police raid in
2016 and its assets are being held by police, a liquidators' report in December
2020 said.
Stunt's Mayfair-based gold bullion business Stunt & Co -
which once supplied gold and silver souvenir coins to Formula One - has also
been liquidated, according to Companies House.
It was raided by police at the same time as Fowler Oldfield,
according to media reports.
NatWest representatives are due to appear in court in the
FCA case next month. The CPS case is listed for trial in April next year.
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