Sports cars seized in money laundering raid

GREATER Manchester Police have seized high performance sports cars following raids across the city as part of an investigation into a suspected £10m money laundering scam.

Seven men and two women aged between 27 and 50 were arrested on suspicion of international money laundering and were held for questioning yesterday.

Police raided a number of addresses in Cheetham Hill, Salford, Hale Barns, Altrincham, Openshaw, Bolton, Oldham and Sale in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

They seized a number of cars including Porsches, a Range Rover and a Mercedes, as well as designer handbags and shoes, perfume and a “significant amount of cash” and laptops.

The raids were part of an eight-month investigation into money laundering by organised crime groups across Europe by officers from Titan, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit.

Detective superintendent Jason Hudson, Titan’s head of operations, said: “The coordinated arrests come as a result of an extensive and thorough eight month long investigation by my team. This is an investigation into money laundering that has a reach far wider than just Manchester, with criminal operations reaching as far as Paris, and we believe as much as £10m may have been moved.”

“Along with our colleagues from Greater Manchester Police, HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, and also the French Police, we have taken a significant step today in dismantling organised crime groups who are damaging communities with illegal money laundering, and the other crime this funds.”