Organised crime fears cause ban on 500 euro note sales

[D-Mack]

Exchange offices in the UK have stopped selling 500 euro banknotes because of their use by money launderers.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency says 90% of the notes sold in the UK are in the hands of organised crime.
Soca deputy director Ian Cruxton said 500 euros had become the currency of choice for gangs hiding their profits.
The move means nobody will be able to buy the note in the UK - but travellers will be able to sell them if they enter the UK carrying them from abroad.
There has been mounting international concern over the note, which is worth more than £400, and its use by criminals or tax evaders.




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8678886.stm

Probably used by more tax evaders than your regular mafiosos, but not worth the paper it's printed on in a couple of years, I assume.

[touchring]

Re: Organised crime fears cause ban on 500 euro note sales

They should follow China where the largest denomination is 100 Yuan, $15. The crooks would need a haversack to haul around a meaningful cache.

[GRG55]

Re: Organised crime fears cause ban on 500 euro note sales

Not too worry...at the rate things are going in a few years 500 Euros will be worth about $15 too... ;-)

[joost]

Re: Organised crime fears cause ban on 500 euro note sales

Well, the 500 Euro note has a special place here in Spain. It was mainly used for unreported (black money) transactions underneath the official radar. Huge stacks would get handed over at real estate transactions. This mostly went away in the "Ballena Blanca" or White Whale scandal, where Russian criminals would whitewash hundreds of millions of Euros with the complicity of Spanish lawyers and notaries.

The 500 Euro note was so popular, for nevarious purposes that is, that this denomination became rather scarce and hard to find. Soon the note became known as the "Bin Laden". Because, you see, one knows it is out there, but you just can find it.....