Harry was an owner of a local car service station in a small village in Europe and appeared extremely cash rich as result of his business.

However, some years before he had embezzled a sizeable amount of money from another company for which he had used to work, and had been able to live off these stolen funds for many years.

As time passed, he had managed to spend a sizeable amount but had begun to consider which locations - other than his home - he could use to hide the money, as it was still in cash and vulnerable to theft or detection. He decided that a better method was to hide the money in the banking system itself, using his company as a cover, by claiming that the cash was part of his regular income.

To avoid difficult face to face questions from the local bank employees, he deposited approximately USD14,000 - the majority in old notes - into the bank’s night safe, claiming this amount to be the daily sales from his garage.

However, Harry did not take into account the inquisitiveness of the bank personnel. As they emptied the night safe the following day, Harry’s deposit immediately raised suspicions.

How could a car service station get so many old currency notes, and how could any business in such a small location attract so much income in one day? The bank disclosed the deposit transaction to the national FIU .

After analysing the disclosure, the FIU decided to disseminate a report to the police. Based on the given information, the police conducted a house search at Harry’s place. The search quickly discovered a great deal more money - in his own safe he held more than USD50,000 and, according to notes the police found, he had also deposited a large amount of money in his mother’s safe deposit box at another financial institution. The police obtained legal permission to search the safety deposit box, and found another USD625,000.

Harry realised that the financial evidence was damning. He told the police about another USD95,000 that he had hidden at his mother’s home, and about the fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion he had been concealing for some time.
Thanks to the disclosure of an alert bank, Harry was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment and nearly USD700,000 was confiscated.

Indicators :
Atypical business behaviour
Unrealistic business turnover
Large - sale cash transactions
A typical Nature of currency / notes