Detectives have said that they believe the businesses, which have not been named, may be laundering cash from drugs and extortion rackets by creating 'ghost children', who show up on the books, and whose parents pay in cash, but in reality do not exist.
Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton of Strathclyde police told a Scottish newspaper that daycare offers lucrative opportunities for 'clean skins' associated with crime gangs -including wives, girlfriends, mothers and daughters - because of the nature of the industry.
'We believe the whole service industry is vulnerable to organised criminals trying to launder money, whether that is the security industry, taxis, car washes, tanning salons or children's day nurseries.'
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