UK Unveils £500m Anti-Money Laundering Strategy with 500 New Officers

The UK government has announced a major crackdown on money laundering, backed by £500 million in funding over three years. The investment will support the recruitment of 500 new officers across police forces, the National Crime Agency, and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The move aims to combat the estimated £100 billion laundered through the UK or British corporate structures each year, which has grown due to the rise of fintech, crypto, and AI. The funding will build on Operation Destabilise, an investigation into Russian-speaking networks that convert street cash into crypto for organised crime groups.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) plans a fresh campaign of arrests and cash seizures against networks it says enable ransomware groups, hostile states, and the class A drugs trade. The NCA has already made significant progress, with 119 suspected launderers arrested and over £25 million seized in cash and crypto in under a year.