The UKFIU is reporting a significant increase in SAR reporting linked to Organised Immigration Crime (OIC), including Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT) and Illegal Working in the UK.
The UK’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) performed a baseline analysis of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) submitted between April 2019 and December 2024.
In the financial year 2023-24, SARs referencing OIC increased rapidly, and since then reporting has remained consistently higher, with over 90% more OIC-related SARs received in quarter four of FY 2023/2024 compared to the same quarter one year earlier. This amounts to 15,000 OIC-related SARs reported between April 2019 and December 2024. Proportionally, this is one in every 300 SARs received.
The driver of this increase was businesses operating as Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Challenger Banks (CBs) reporting the organisation and facilitation of money laundering of illicit funds from illegal working in the UK. Illegal working suspicions often involved the abuse of shared profiles on food delivery or ride sharing apps.
Of the OIC linked SARs, 24% related to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking and 38% to Illegal Working in the UK.
The UKFIU will be seeking to improve the understanding of the difference between OIC and MSHT to achieve a more accurate use of the relevant Glossary Codes. It plans to do this in partnership with the UKFIU Reporter Engagement Team and the JMLIT OIC Cell, which is co-chaired by the NCA and Western Union.
More information can be found at https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications/762-sars-in-action-issue-33/file
