On November 17, 2025, two separate but strikingly similar stories emerged from opposite sides of the Atlantic, each shining a harsh light on the relentless ingenuity of money launderers and the mounting challenges faced by regulators and law enforcement. In Canada, cryptocurrency exchange companies are finding loopholes in finance laws, facilitating anonymous, large-scale crypto-to-cash deals without proper registration or identity checks. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, a sweeping crackdown on high street businesses revealed how seemingly innocuous storefronts—barber shops, vape stores, and American-style candy shops—are being used as fronts for laundering billions in illicit cash.
According to a joint investigation by CBC News, Radio-Canada, the Toronto Star, La Presse, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, crypto exchange companies in Canada have been offering to buy thousands of dollars in digital currencies without adhering to required identification protocols or proper registration. The investigation revealed that two international platforms even offered to deliver up to $1 million in cash to a Montreal location in exchange for cryptocurrency. This is not a minor loophole—it's a gaping hole in the regulatory net.
Canada has long grappled with dirty money infiltrating its traditional economy, from banking to casinos and real estate. But the rapid rise of storefront and online cryptocurrency services, coupled with a lack of robust regulation and enforcement, is opening entirely new frontiers for illicit finance. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and tether are decentralized by design, making it difficult for police or fraud victims to trace the true owners behind millions of transactions. Still, investigators can often track the initial purchase of digital coins or when those coins are converted back into hard currency. The real problem, experts warn, is that the controls at these crucial entry and exit points—the so-called blockchain "on- and off-ramps"—are being stripped away.
Richard Sanders, a global authority on crypto-to-cash operations, minced no words in his assessment: "If you have this way to move money with absolutely zero checks on it, you’re facilitating an unlimited amount of crime." He added, "I could not have in my worst dreams predicted the reality we’re in now." Nick Smart, chief intelligence officer at Crystal, a company specializing in crypto crime investigations, echoed this concern, noting that the sums moving through these services are "absolutely staggering." His team found that, last year alone, crypto-to-cash businesses in Hong Kong processed at least $2.5 billion in transactions. "They're a perfect place to operate as a criminal because no one's going to ask any questions," Smart told CBC News.
To demonstrate just how easy it is, an undercover reporter for the Toronto Star walked into a money transfer business in midtown Toronto. Registered with FINTRAC—Canada's national financial intelligence agency—the business should have followed strict anti-laundering protocols. Instead, the only verification required was the serial number from a Canadian $5 bill, previously shared via the messaging app Telegram. In exchange for transferring 2,000 tether tokens to a Ukraine-based crypto exchange called 001k, the reporter received $1,900 in cash—no ID required. This transaction, which would be illegal under Canadian anti-laundering regulations, was arranged off the books by a rogue manager, who claimed the cash was "earned legally." Joseph Iuso, executive director of the Canadian Money Services Business Association, confirmed, "They shouldn't be doing that. That's actually illegal."
The scale of the problem is daunting. Since August 2022, 001k has received more than $14.8 billion in cryptocurrency transfers, according to data provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. One web directory lists over 20 crypto-to-cash services in Canadian cities from Halifax to Vancouver, none registered with FINTRAC. Many openly told undercover reporters they wouldn't require any ID. FINTRAC, for its part, admits it doesn't have the resources to oversee all 2,600-plus registered money-services businesses in Canada—let alone the unregistered ones. "There's just tons" of foreign money transfer businesses illicitly offering services to Canadians, Iuso acknowledged. "They're all trying to circumvent the regulations. And, unfortunately, how do you police that?"
"Welcome to the Wild West," Sanders observed. "This is a way to move money with absolutely zero checks." FINTRAC insists it is "prepared to take strong action as necessary so that businesses take their responsibilities seriously," but the sheer scale of the challenge is evident.
Across the Atlantic, the UK is facing its own money laundering epidemic, but the methods are as old as cash itself. As reported by LBC, more than 2,700 high street businesses—including barber shops, minimarts, takeaways, vape stores, nail bars, sweet shops, and American-style candy stores—were raided in October 2025 as part of Operation Machinize. The result: 924 arrests and over £10.7 million seized in what officials describe as the biggest operation of its kind. The National Crime Agency estimates that around £12 billion in criminal cash is laundered through the UK every year.
Marit Rødevand, founder and CEO of anti-money laundering firm Strise, warned, "American-style candy stores are the frontline in the fight against international money laundering." She noted that anyone walking down their local high street can see how things have changed, with fraudulent businesses thriving in plain sight. "We’re fascinated as to how we can all know that something is wrong but that nothing is done about it." Rødevand pointed to poor oversight at Companies House, which makes it far too easy for criminals to set up shell companies with little scrutiny. "It allowed fraudsters to join up names like ‘Santa Claus’, ‘Tooth Fairy’ and ‘Darth Vader’," she said. She urged better verification of company data and more robust enforcement.
The raids targeted businesses suspected of laundering profits from drugs, fraud, trafficking, and other organized crime. In some areas, such as Essex and Doncaster, the number of barber shops has risen by 200% in five years—a pattern investigators say mirrors the rapid expansion of illicit finance fronts. Suspicious signs include high cash turnover in low-footfall shops, frequent changes of ownership, and inconsistent declared income. Rødevand stressed that money laundering is not just a white-collar problem: "These businesses allegedly engage in tax evasion, exploitation of vulnerable people, and the selling of stolen or illegal goods. They enable and encourage the phone theft epidemic that has been so rampant in the UK. Money laundering is the support network that allows criminals to make a business out of fraud, scamming, theft and drug-dealing."
Officials say the raids exposed how deeply criminal operations have embedded themselves in local economies. Sal Melki, the NCA’s deputy director for illicit finance, said many targeted shops were acting as "hubs for a range of poly-criminality," serving as meeting points for criminal associates and hiding drugs or laundering cash. A major breakthrough in West Yorkshire saw police disrupt a gang accused of laundering profits through a jewellers, seizing over £2 million in assets, including gold bars, 30 luxury watches, and a £500,000 ring. A solicitor linked to the case allegedly authorized £800,000 in payments while owning a £1 million house with no mortgage.
Rachael Herbert, director of the National Economic Crime Centre, emphasized, "Depriving criminals of their source of income has a real impact, limiting the amount of funds they can reinvest in further offending and deterring them from taking spaces on our high street that could be used by legitimate businesses." Security minister Dan Jarvis warned, "Criminals are using these dodgy shops as fronts for serious organised crime, money laundering and illegal working, risking the future of the British high street." The next phase of Operation Machinize will continue into 2025, with hundreds more suspect companies under scrutiny.
From Toronto to London, the message is clear: as criminals exploit new technologies and old tricks alike, the fight to stem the tide of dirty money is only getting more complicated—and more urgent.