RT
December 14, 2021
NatWest, the UK’s biggest business bank, has been fined £265 million ($350 million) for failing to prevent the laundering of nearly £400 million. It’s the first criminal money laundering case against a British bank.
The charges relate to the bank’s failure to properly monitor the activity of one of its commercial customers between 2012 and 2016. Eleven people have pleaded guilty in connection with the case, the trial of another 13 suspects is scheduled for April 2022.
According to the case, when NatWest took on a Bradford-based gold trading business, Fowler Oldfield, as a customer, the bank was told it would not handle cash from the firm. However, during the period, hundreds of millions of pounds was deposited into the bank, with some huge amounts in cash.