4 ms·

I live in Soho, and have watched these places pop up & shut down on Oxford St constantly for the last 5 years. One factor is that in recent times these commerc

I live in Soho, and have watched these places pop up & shut down on Oxford St constantly for the last 5 years. One factor is that in recent times these commercial rents have begun offering incredibly low rates for the first year, that then get increased in subsequent years. This makes it perfect for these low cost setups to move in, and move out constantly. I do think that there is an aspect of money laundering going on. I've literally never seen anyone in one of these stores, so yeah. Side Note: I got a weekly newsletter from Westminster council the other day, bragging about a raid they had done on some of those tourist trap places, and found £X amount of CBD products that weren't approved, non-sanctioned vapes/batteries etc. They also deported some undocumented people working there... These places are not the same as the candy places, but they are definately adjacent/similar setup.

Cthulhu_ 4y ago
How much would it cost to keep a place like this running for a month? Rent + wages, assuming it needs just 1 full time staffer. Their stock doesn't go bad very fast at least, so if they do pack it in they can sell most of it on to someone else. That said, money laundering is pretty much everywhere; there's so many shops that don't really seem to get any business. Over here there's tons of phone shops, they sell phones, subscriptions (the provider is often plastered all over), phone cases and repairs, but I don't believe they get much traffic at all.
- op00to 4y ago
  Why do you think it money laundering? What’s the exact mechanism?
  - hoseja 4y ago
    Well, the usual scheme is you just report inflated sales, no?
    - op00to 4y ago
      I read a little further in the article and they mentioned that. Is it really that easy? I was hoping there was SOMETHING else besides just .. simple lying.
      - ackbar03 4y ago
        I had the same confusion before. I had frequently heard of money laundering and how casinos were frequently associated with it and thought it was something sophisticated. Unless I'm mistaken, it really is as simple as having a significant amounts of cash exchange hands under plausible pretenses and lying about it. For casinos, you can buy chips, cash them out, and the money is u traceable (or something like that)
  - objclxt 4y ago
    > Why do you think it money laundering? What’s the exact mechanism? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhsUHDJ0BFM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhsUHDJ0BFM Replace "nail salon" with "candy" and you're there. Candy is a great product for this because it's high-margin, and very low value.
    - op00to 4y ago
      Thank you! I think I was overthinking it a bit - looking for a deep, nefarious scheme when they're simply saying they sold 300 boxes of candy when they only sold 50, or whatever.
  - bcraven 4y ago
    https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/cnkcaz/private_eye_on_west_end_souvenir_shops/ https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/cnkcaz/private_eye_... It could be a similar to the technique used by trinket stores that was exposed by Private Eye.
Foobar8568 4y ago
Bubble tea shops are nice fronts for money laundering too.
- Sholmesy 4y ago
  I've actually seen people in those though, which doesn't invalidate it from money laundering, just makes it a less obvious one!
- thrwyoilarticle 4y ago
  Perhaps women's clothing shops and pet shops are for money laundering too, since they have no direct relevance to my life.
  - op00to 4y ago
    Women's clothing, especially boutiques, are probably not a bad choice for money laundering if you could somehow pass knockoff stuff as genuine luxury articles, and have your dirty money come in as the delta between knockoff and genuine wholesale. Pet shops? I dunno.
    - madaxe_again 4y ago
      I knew a pet shop in the US in the 90’s whose primary business was moving large quantities of weed around (bagged in the bottom of barrels of fish), so yeah, not impossible.
    - matthewowen 4y ago
      High end clothing boutiques aren’t cash businesses though, so they’re generally not good for money laundering.
      - op00to 4y ago
        Probably not - but there are "Sample sales" that pop up in abandoned store fronts that are certainly 100% cash, and I'm sure shady shit goes down in those. I'm too fat for any of those clothes, so I just judge from outside.
NLMichel 4y ago
> I do think that there is an aspect of money laundering going on. Definitely yes, a similar thing happened across the pond in Amsterdam: https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo-lekker-aan-het-witwassen?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo... (Dutch article, used Google Translate)
soco 4y ago
Seems like every commenter here is aware of the money laundering hypothesis, except me... could somebody drop a link or anything to explain to the outsider what kind of money laundering is happening so profitably in those shops? Thank you!
- Sholmesy 4y ago
  Sorry, that's just conjecture on my part. Sister commenter posted this about Amsterdam: https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo-lekker-aan-het-witwassen?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo... Here's one from google about Scotland: https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13308928.crooks-using-sweetie-shops-to-launder-money/ https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13308928.crooks-using-sw... Here's one from PrivateEye (England): https://external-preview.redd.it/nI7Pl0eLeF1y4l6ow_QARxTZ09bs8e36AMix6PzFvyM.jpg?auto=webp&s= https://external-preview.redd.it/nI7Pl0eLeF1y4l6ow_QARxTZ09b...

Cthulhu_ 4y ago

How much would it cost to keep a place like this running for a month? Rent + wages, assuming it needs just 1 full time staffer. Their stock doesn't go bad very fast at least, so if they do pack it in they can sell most of it on to someone else. That said, money laundering is pretty much everywhere; there's so many shops that don't really seem to get any business. Over here there's tons of phone shops, they sell phones, subscriptions (the provider is often plastered all over), phone cases and repairs, but I don't believe they get much traffic at all.

op00to 4y ago
Why do you think it money laundering? What’s the exact mechanism?
- hoseja 4y ago
  Well, the usual scheme is you just report inflated sales, no?
  - op00to 4y ago
    I read a little further in the article and they mentioned that. Is it really that easy? I was hoping there was SOMETHING else besides just .. simple lying.
    - ackbar03 4y ago
      I had the same confusion before. I had frequently heard of money laundering and how casinos were frequently associated with it and thought it was something sophisticated. Unless I'm mistaken, it really is as simple as having a significant amounts of cash exchange hands under plausible pretenses and lying about it. For casinos, you can buy chips, cash them out, and the money is u traceable (or something like that)
- objclxt 4y ago
  > Why do you think it money laundering? What’s the exact mechanism? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhsUHDJ0BFM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhsUHDJ0BFM Replace "nail salon" with "candy" and you're there. Candy is a great product for this because it's high-margin, and very low value.
  - op00to 4y ago
    Thank you! I think I was overthinking it a bit - looking for a deep, nefarious scheme when they're simply saying they sold 300 boxes of candy when they only sold 50, or whatever.
- bcraven 4y ago
  https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/cnkcaz/private_eye_on_west_end_souvenir_shops/ https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/cnkcaz/private_eye_... It could be a similar to the technique used by trinket stores that was exposed by Private Eye.

Foobar8568 4y ago

Bubble tea shops are nice fronts for money laundering too.

Sholmesy 4y ago
I've actually seen people in those though, which doesn't invalidate it from money laundering, just makes it a less obvious one!
thrwyoilarticle 4y ago
Perhaps women's clothing shops and pet shops are for money laundering too, since they have no direct relevance to my life.
- op00to 4y ago
  Women's clothing, especially boutiques, are probably not a bad choice for money laundering if you could somehow pass knockoff stuff as genuine luxury articles, and have your dirty money come in as the delta between knockoff and genuine wholesale. Pet shops? I dunno.
  - madaxe_again 4y ago
    I knew a pet shop in the US in the 90’s whose primary business was moving large quantities of weed around (bagged in the bottom of barrels of fish), so yeah, not impossible.
  - matthewowen 4y ago
    High end clothing boutiques aren’t cash businesses though, so they’re generally not good for money laundering.
    - op00to 4y ago
      Probably not - but there are "Sample sales" that pop up in abandoned store fronts that are certainly 100% cash, and I'm sure shady shit goes down in those. I'm too fat for any of those clothes, so I just judge from outside.

NLMichel 4y ago

> I do think that there is an aspect of money laundering going on. Definitely yes, a similar thing happened across the pond in Amsterdam: https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo-lekker-aan-het-witwassen?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo... (Dutch article, used Google Translate)

soco 4y ago

Seems like every commenter here is aware of the money laundering hypothesis, except me... could somebody drop a link or anything to explain to the outsider what kind of money laundering is happening so profitably in those shops? Thank you!

Sholmesy 4y ago
Sorry, that's just conjecture on my part. Sister commenter posted this about Amsterdam: https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo-lekker-aan-het-witwassen?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://www-groene-nl.translate.goog/artikel/ze-zijn-hier-zo... Here's one from google about Scotland: https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13308928.crooks-using-sweetie-shops-to-launder-money/ https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13308928.crooks-using-sw... Here's one from PrivateEye (England): https://external-preview.redd.it/nI7Pl0eLeF1y4l6ow_QARxTZ09bs8e36AMix6PzFvyM.jpg?auto=webp&s= https://external-preview.redd.it/nI7Pl0eLeF1y4l6ow_QARxTZ09b...