Police arrest three men in Belfast on suspicion of fraud and money laundering offences

Officers from the Police Service Of Northern Ireland's Economic Crime Unit arrested three men aged 39, 40 and 44.

It follows a search on Monday (7 November) in the Belfast area conducted in partnership with officers from the Tactical Support Group, the Police Service's Dog Unit and Woodbourne Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

Detective Sergeant Loreen Glenn from the Organised Crime Branch said: "Money Laundering is often a critical enabler of organised criminality. We believe that the majority of this money is derived from a range of criminal activity carried out by organised crime gangs and could total in excess of £3million.

"We are committed to keeping people safe by robustly pursing those whose are involved in laundering criminally-derived money and enabling criminals to access the profits gained from their involvement in a range of activities.

"We are also considering that so-called 'money mules' have been in use during these frauds. ‘Money Mules’ refer to persons that transfer stolen money on behalf of others, usually through their bank account, often vulnerable people in dire need of money are targeted for this practice.“These searches and arrests are an important development in our ongoing work in tackling the threat that serious and organised crime poses. I would appeal for anyone with any information on this type of activity to contact us on 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”