Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many incidents potentially related to money laundering have (a) the Inland Revenue and (b) HM Customs and Excise reported to the appropriate investigative agencies in each year since 2010; and how many prosecutions resulted from these reports in each year.

HMRC do not record the requested data.

Information about HMRC’s referrals of suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency, and how HMRC shares information with domestic law enforcement agencies, is set out in its annual anti-money laundering supervision self-assessment report, the latest of which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-economic-crime-supervision-annual-assessment-report-2021-to-2022.

HMRC also has a network of intelligence officers embedded with domestic partner agencies to assist with their operational work. 13 officers are embedded with police teams, including Regional Organised Crime Units, and 7 with other law enforcement agencies. In addition, 5 HMRC officers are seconded to the National Economic Crime Centre and 2 are embedded in the United Kingdom Financial Intelligence Unit.

If any referrals are adopted by these investigating agencies, it is a decision for them, in tandem with the relevant prosecuting authority to pursue a criminal prosecution for money laundering offences.

HMRC can and does investigate money laundering, linked to its assigned matters, as well as criminal breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations. Since 2011/12, HMRC opened 358 investigations involving money laundering or breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations and 301 individuals have been prosecuted for either offence over the same period.