Retail Trade: Money Laundering
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prosecutions for money laundering linked to high street businesses in Lancashire have occurred in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones
Official Criminal Justice Statistics on prosecutions by offence codes are published on a quarterly basis by the Ministry of Justice. There is not sufficient granularity within prosecutions data to provide figures against high street businesses.
The overall figures for prosecutions in England and Wales for money laundering offences show 8,486 such prosecutions took place in 2025. This includes prosecutions where money laundering is the primary charge (principal offence) and where it is a secondary charge (non-principal).
Table 1: Money laundering prosecutions in England and Wales (all offence basis – including where money laundering was the non-principal offence)
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
Prosecutions | 5,135 | 4,309 | 5,100 | 7,140 | 8,486 |
The Ministry of Justice also publishes quarterly data breaking down prosecutions for each offence by Police Force Area. To note, Police Force Area relates to the location of the court that dealt with the offence, which may not necessarily correspond to where the offence took place, or which Police Force investigated the case.
The latest statistics show there were 261 prosecutions for money laundering offences in Lancashire Police Force Area in 2025.
Table 2: Money laundering prosecutions in Lancashire Police Force Area (all offence basis - – including where money laundering was the non-principal offence)
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
Prosecutions | 115 | 77 | 137 | 201 | 261 |
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