Companies House and the Insolvency Service have worked collaboratively to shut down thousands of companies thought to be involved in ‘illicit activities’, such as using fraudulent information to incorporate businesses in the UK.

The joint investigation caught 30 entities that had incorporated 30,000-50,000 companies they considered to be involved in ‘illicit activities’. 10,000 of in the process of being removed from the register.

They have managed to identify around £50m in UK property related to organised criminals in which asset recovery investigations are taking place.

Along with this, over 100,000 shell companies that have been formed over the last 20 years and are ‘known to be involved in a number of illicit activities’ have been analysed. The Insolvency Service is in the process of investigating these to wind them up and refer them to Companies House to be dissolved.

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