- The way in which financial exploitation presents can vary greatly. However, indicators may include missing money, sudden debt, unexplained changes in bank activity or lack of access to personal finances.
- Victims may appear confused about financial arrangements, unable to explain new loans or contracts, or fearful when asked about money. Control of bank cards, PINs, benefit accounts or online banking by another person is common.
- In more severe cases, individuals may lose access to accommodation, income or essential items due to someone else controlling their finances, often alongside emotional manipulation, intimidation or dependency.
- Children and young people may be coerced into allowing others access to their accounts, transferring funds or engaging in online financial activity they do not fully understand - often linked to online grooming or criminal exploitation.
"Financial exploitation often hides in plain sight - loans, benefits and wages siphoned through deception and control. We unpack these mechanisms for the court with clear, evidence-based analysis."
– Kieran Walsh, Expert Witness
What is Financial Exploitation?
- Financial exploitation involves the coercive or deceptive use of another person’s finances, identity or economic resources for someone else’s gain.
- It includes taking control of bank accounts, benefits or wages; forcing individuals to take out loans or phone contracts; and manipulating victims into fraudulent activity.
- Financial exploitation can occur in isolation but frequently intersects with forced labour, criminal exploitation, domestic servitude and trafficking, forming part of wider coercive control.
Who is Affected by Financial Exploitation?
- Financial exploitation affects adults and children across all demographics, though those experiencing poverty, learning disabilities, insecure immigration status, substance dependence, homelessness or prior trauma are particularly vulnerable.
- Victims may rely on exploiters for accommodation, food or safety, increasing dependency and making it difficult to leave or challenge the abuse.
- Adults in supported accommodation, individuals with cognitive impairments and young people targeted through online platforms are commonly exploited financially.
Relationship Between Modern Slavery and Financial Exploitation
- Financial exploitation is increasingly recognised as a form of modern slavery when coercion, deception or control is used to access or misuse a person's financial resources.
- Exploiters may use threats, debts, fraud, immigration abuse or manipulation to maintain control, often creating long-term dependency through fabricated or inflated financial obligations.
- Financial exploitation often underpins other modern slavery types by funding criminal networks, enabling coercive control and restricting a victim’s ability to escape or seek help.
Signs of Financial Exploitation
Characteristics of Financial Exploitation
- Abuse of trust or dependence: exploiters target those reliant on them for care, accommodation or support.
- Control of finances: victims lose access to wages, benefits or bank accounts, often under threat or deception.
- Identity misuse: exploiters open credit, phone contracts or loans in the victim’s name (“money muling”).
- Debt creation: false debts or inflated charges maintain dependency and control.
- Fraud and benefit theft: victims coerced into benefit fraud, tax evasion or money laundering.
- Lack of transparency: exploiters act as “handlers” for all financial correspondence, concealing exploitation.
- Psychological manipulation: shame, confusion and threats of arrest prevent victims from seeking help.
- Overlap with labour and criminal exploitation: financial control sustains wider patterns of coercion and dependency.
Best Practices in Identifying and Acting for Victims of Financial Exploitation
- Be empathetic and compassionate, recognising victims may feel shame, fear or confusion about their financial situation.
- Avoid victim-blaming language - individuals may appear to “agree” to loans or account activity due to threats, dependency or manipulation.
- Map and log concerns, including patterns of financial control, new debts, missing benefits, third-party account access and changes in living circumstances.
- Work collaboratively with police, social care, housing, banking institutions and voluntary organisations to coordinate safeguarding and financial protection.
- Refer victims to the NRM where financial exploitation forms part of wider coercion, trafficking or modern slavery.
The Law - Section 45 in Financial Exploitation Cases
- Section 45 provides a statutory defence for victims of modern slavery who commit offences as a direct consequence of exploitation and compulsion.
- Individuals must meet specific legal criteria. Children must only evidence exploitation occurred; adults must show both exploitation and compulsion.
- Our experts analyse the circumstances of each case to establish the connection between financial coercion and alleged offending behaviour and assess whether the criteria have been met.
What is the Role of an Expert Witness in a Financial Exploitation Case?
- We provide independent, evidence-based assessments of financial exploitation indicators in legal cases.
- Our reports explain methods of deception, coercion, debt creation, financial control and manipulation used by exploiters and how these shape vulnerability, dependency and decision-making.
- We assess trauma responses, background vulnerabilities and the wider context of exploitation to help courts understand how financial abuse can drive alleged offending and inhibit disclosure.
Step-by-Step Process for Instructing a Financial Exploitation Expert Witness
- Contact us to discuss the specifics of the case.
- Agree on the scope of the report and deadlines.
- Provide relevant case files, including prosecution evidence, financial records, benefit documentation, chat logs, contracts and NRM paperwork.
- We review all evidence, assess the individual where possible and produce a detailed expert report outlining financial coercion and control.
- We attend court hearings to present our findings where necessary.
Tips on Instructing a Financial Expert Witness
- Provide clear instructions and all relevant evidence, including financial documents, bank statements, benefit records, digital communications and safeguarding paperwork.
- Instruct a psychologist or psychiatrist where trauma, cognitive vulnerabilities or mental health difficulties may affect decision-making or susceptibility to financial abuse.
- Allow sufficient time for detailed financial analysis and report completion, ensuring all disclosures can be reviewed in full.
Founded by Dr Grace Robinson in 2019.
OUR PRIMARY AIM IS TO SUPPORT VICTIMS AND INCREASE AWARENESS OF MODERN SLAVERY.