HMRC investigators have seized over £1.1m following a raid on a money service business in London.

The cash, which was piled at the business, included Scottish bank notes and over 30,000 US dollars.

Investigators arrested seven men and searched nine business and residential properties along with four vehicles.

Over 100 HMRC officers took part in the arrest operation on Monday as part of a criminal investigation into alleged money laundering.

The cash was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, along with gold, electronic devices and paper records.

A further £120,000 was discovered during a search of one of the vehicles.

Margaret Mousley, deputy director in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service. said: “Money laundering is not victimless. It deprives our public services of much needed money and fuels wider organised criminal networks that bring misery and harm to our communities, including violence and exploitation.

“We will always be on the side of the law-abiding majority and will investigate any business suspected of laundering the proceeds of crime. This is a significant amount of money and the courts have agreed we can hold it for six months whilst our investigations continue.”

HMRC called on anyone with information on any type of tax fraud or suspicions of money laundering activity to report it to them via the gov.uk website.