Launderers in the news: October 2011

19 October 2011

Despite the summer recess and courts being busy dealing with cases from the recent riots, money laundering convictions continue aplenty in the UK.

83 year old Kensington woman convicted of laundering

Jean Rogerson of Notting Hill was convicted of money laundering after trying to deposit more than 122,000 in cash into her bank account in just one day.

On the third visit to the bank, the cashier became concerned about the cash deposits and queried the source of funds. Mrs Rogerson said they were her savings, before adding 'they give me the money, and I give it back to them'. Police initially thought that Mrs Rogerson may have been a victim being forced to launder the funds for a criminal gang, but investigations revealed otherwise. She will be sentenced on 21 October.

Partner of Harlow drug dealer gets suspended sentence for laundering

Joanne Tram, the partner of a convicted drug courier, was given a 12 month suspended sentence, 200 hours unpaid work and an electronically tagged six month curfew after pleading guilty to money laundering and mortgage fraud.

Ms Tram had regularly taken large sums of money to her partner at gambling institutions but said that she had thought the money came from his successful gambling. However the money related to her partner's activities as a drug courier, with almost 800,000 passing through their accounts over six years.

Ms Tram was spared a custodial sentence on the basis that she had been less culpable in the money laundering scheme, had no previous convictions and would soon be responsible for looking after four young children.

Brockley fraudsters prey on deceased estates

A couple from Brockley were jailed after attempting to defraud over 700,000 from two estates. The couple, Georgian Forteath and Harvil Connally, used a fake will with a fake beneficiary in one case to empty the accounts of a recently deceased individual. While in the other case they moved into the deceased's property, used their credit card to pay for goods and even attempted to sell the house.

Georgina was sentenced to eight years for her role in the frauds, while Harvil was sentenced to three years for his role in the frauds and for money laundering.

Yorkshire launderer and cigarette bootlegger gets suspended sentence

A Dinnington man was sentenced to 10 months jail, suspended for two years for three counts of money laundering following his arrest for possession of bootleg cigarettes.

Bristol couple jailed for illegal brothel and money laundering

Si Man Chan, 44, and Brian Davies, 47, were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court for running an illegal brothel and money laundering. Ms Chan was jailed for two and a half years, while Mr Davies was sentenced to 10 months jail suspended for two years.

Three Luton siblings convicted of laundering drug money

The mother, aunt and uncle of two convicted drug dealers were sentenced for their role in laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking.

Wendy Birch, the mother of the drug dealers, was given a four month suspended jail term for possession of the proceeds of drug crime in her bank account and for purchasing a car with those proceeds. Her sister, Coral Lee, was given a five month suspended jail term for sending some of the criminal proceeds to Jamaica. Their brother, Donald Birch, was given a three month sentence to be served concurrently with a sentence for an unrelated matter, after allowing his bank account to be used to transfer the proceeds of crime for the purchase of a vehicle.

Tesco employee guilty of money laundering after share theft

A Tesco employee with the same name as a senior Tesco executive was accidently allocated 57,000 worth of company shares. Instead of alerting his employer to the error, Jeffrey Adams pocketed them and attempted to cash them in. He was convicted of two counts of fraud and one of money laundering and has been sentenced to two years jail.

Chorley men financed and organised cocaine imports from Trinidad

Two Chorley men who made travel arrangements for drug mules between the UK and Trinidad have been convicted for conspiring to supply cocaine and money laundering. They were sentenced to 12 years and 8 years respectively.