National Money Laundering ring smashed

Eleven people have been convicted of offences of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud at the end of a series of trials held at Leeds Crown Court.  The sentences imposed to date range from 15 months to 5 years imprisonment and total over 28 years with one defendant still to be sentenced.

Operation Churchill is a complex money laundering investigation with international connections. It was launched by the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) in January 2005 following liaison with the Lancashire Constabulary Major Crime Unit who had been investigating the theft of almost a quarter of a million pounds from an elderly person. The RART's investigation focused on a cell of thirteen persons predominantly domiciled in West Yorkshire who were arrested and charged with offences of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.

This national gang of criminals were responsible for numerous scams which netted them in excess of £2.5million.  The criminal conduct included a £1.8 million fraud on wealthy elderly Abbey Bond customers plundered from the nest eggs of elderly Abbey Savers located countrywide from Kent to Scotland.

The cash was laundered through a series of specially set up bank accounts. The vast majority of the money was transferred overseas into accounts held in Marbella and other funds were put into property deals.

The crimes were facilitated by “a fifth column within the bank” in form of two collusive bank employees and the use of varying forms of identity theft.  One of these employees boasted in an online chat room that she had earned over £30,000 for her part in the scam.

Another section of the investigation involved the theft of cheques issued to Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, a London based solicitor’s firm.  This was done by intercepting cheques issued by their clients and paying them into a HSBC account, again held at Market Street, Bradford. This account, along with several other accounts created for the purpose of laundering money, had been opened using false identity papers to mirror the genuine account held by the solicitors . This enabled cheques issued to them to be paid into the fraudulent Bradford account and in total £107,000 cash was withdrawn from the bogus account in a one month period.

A third aspect involved deceptions upon two innocent Halifax Bank account holders who were duped into allowing stolen cheques to the value of some £40,000 to be paid into each of their accounts. They were then immediately asked to draw banker’s drafts against the funds and because of the operating practices of the Halifax were allowed to do so.

The cheques deposited by the conspirators into their accounts subsequently ‘bounced’ effectively leaving the innocent account holders each with a £40,000 debt.  This caused the account holders serious financial problems and led to one of them trying to take their own life as a consequence.

Speaking after the case, DCI Stephen Waite said “the sentences should send a clear message to anyone tempted to commit financial fraud that it was not a low risk crime and would attract significant custodial sentences.  The two year investigation led by DC Colin Brown has resulted in 11 convictions and jail terms of up to five years”