A Cowes woman faces going to prison after admitting her part in a complex money laundering operation to the tune of £111,000.
Rachel Stephanie Herd, 53, of Arctic Road in Cowes, has pleaded guilty to concealing, converting, disguising, or removing a staggering £111,339.60 of criminal property between 1st January 2017 and 9th May 2018.
Herd is 1 of 4 people convicted following an investigation carried out by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Economic Crime Unit.
The money laundering offences were born out of cyber-enabled payment diversion fraud activity that occurred between February and April 2017.
During this period, victims were defrauded cumulatively to the tune of more than £200,000. The fraud involved email accounts of victims in North Yorkshire and in London being compromised, and money transfers – including funds from the sale of a property on one particular occasion – being intercepted and diverted to fraudulent bank accounts.
From there, the stolen money was transferred through various personal bank accounts, with large sums also being spent or withdrawn including from banks and at a London casino.
These frauds were initially investigated separately by other police forces, before Hampshire’s ECU launched an investigation in March 2018 focusing on the business activities of 2 companies – St James BG Ltd in Hampshire, and St James Bank Ltd based in Mayfair, London.
During this investigation, in May 2018, the home address of 48-year-old Tyrone Christie – also known as Tyrone Trim – was searched under warrant, and a computer was seized.
The examination of this computer unearthed documentation providing evidence of a ‘money-mule’ network, including invoices, letters and other relevant documentation in the names of individuals involved in the dissipation of funds from both frauds. Enquiries also established suspicious banking activity linked to Christie, involving large transfers and withdrawals of cash, dating back to 2016 – pre-dating the fraud.
Hampshire ECU’s lengthy investigation tracked the banking and payment activities, and a number of people were arrested and subsequently charged following enquiries.
On Wednesday, Tyrone Christie, of Riverside Drive in Mitcham, Surrey was found guilty by a jury sitting at Portsmouth Crown Court of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement between 13th July 2016 and 25th July 2017.
57-year-old Gareth Amaru Williams – also known as Gary Taylor – of Manor Road in South Norwood, London was also found guilty of 1 count of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement between 3rd April 2017 and 2nd June 2017, and 1 count of concealing, converting, disguising, or removing £100,134 of criminal property between 10th April 2017 and 19th April 2017.
On 1st March this year, Rachel Stephanie Herd pleaded guilty to concealing, converting, disguising, or removing £111,339.60 of criminal property between 1 January 2017 and 9 May 2018.
32-year-old Fabian Nathaniel Thomas, of Ashley Road in Bristol, pleaded guilty on 23rd March to concealing, converting, disguising, or removing £20,000 of criminal property between 1st January 2017 and 9th May 2018.
Trim, Herd and Thomas have been bailed by the court, whilst Williams has been remanded in custody.
A date for sentencing is yet to be fixed.
Hope they get a decent time in prison then maybe others will think twice
Slap on wrist I bet
Excellent comment! Totally agree with you. Do you think that’s how it’s supposed to work then? Your theory. It doesn’t. Sadly.
Yer ,bet she been involved in alot if other stuff too,drug dealing,intimidation etc etc
If it’s affected anyone rich or famous they’ll go down for years. If the victim’s are ‘just’ normal people or pensioner’s they’ll probably get a few months…