Mary worked at a European company where she held the post of a clerical officer within the company's accounts department.

In her position she was able to misappropriate suppliers' cheques. She lodged a total of USD36,000 to an investment account controlled by her Uncle Jim at a finance company. The two fraudsters thought that the financial institution at which the account was held would not be suspicious of fund transfers into an account associated with a well established finance company. However, the finance company, itself discovered the unusual transfer during a routine audit inspection, and disclosed the transactions to the national FIU.

The FIU made an application to the courts for an order to make material relating to Jim's account at the finance company available to the investigation team. The finance company had kept accurate records and the investigation team was therefore able to rapidly analyse the various transactions. Jim had tried to conceal the funds through his account by obtaining a number of loans, all for similar sums of approximately USD8,000. These loans were repaid quickly using the misappropriated cheques to offset the outstanding balances and produce a 'clean' source of the funds.

When Jim was arrested he was questioned as to his part in handling the missing moneys. He admitted to receiving the cheques from Mary and lodging them at the finance company. Employees from the finance company identified Jim as the accountholder in a formal identification parade. Mary made a statement under caution admitting that she had stolen money from her employer. She further admitted misappropriating cheques from her employer and handing them over to her uncle. Jim was interviewed again and made a statement under caution outlining his participation in the fraud. He confessed that he has been fully aware that his niece had stolen from her employer.

Various charges of larceny were arranged against Mary. Charges of money laundering were made against Jim in respect of each occasion he lodged a stolen cheque into his account at the finance company.

Indicators:
Change of account behaviour without explanation
Multiple amounts paid into personal account without explanation