A Cowes woman involved in a complex money laundering operation to the tune of £111,000, has been handed a suspended sentence. Back in March 2023, Rachel Stephanie Herd, 53, of Arctic Road in Cowes, admitted 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 a group of 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there, the stolen money was transferred through various personal bank accounts, with large sums also being spent or withdrawn including from banks and at a London casino.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. 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. At a hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court today (17th November) Herd was given 12 months suspended for 2 years, a community order, and ordered to complete 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.
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“15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.” For money laundering, interesting.
15 rehabilitation days being pandered to by a bleeding heart public sector socialist in exchange for £111,000 – not bad work if you can get it
Is this the same Rachel that worked at Lanes End Primary ?……
Looks like a good risk free job with a sentence like that and earn nearly as much as a council worker
The victims must be absolutely sickened at such a lenient sentence.
She knew what she was doing and knew the risks if caught.
No deterrent in this sentence at all.
This sounds like straightforward fraud and theft – nothing to do with money-laundering, alrthoyugh HM Gov is keen to talk it up to give HMRC yet more excuse to pester innocent people.
Suspended sentence, would a man have been given a suspended sentence ? I think not!
As all our prisons are filled to maximum capacity with our own and now the world’s flotsam, courts can never again give meaningful sentences to anyone other than the very worst criminals.
As lesser criminals know this then we gain ever more criminals.
The costs involved in tracing such criminals as this ought to be added to what they have stolen and the sentencing upped accordingly.
But as we fill the UK with never ending leeches then no deterrent is possible now
I bet she’s been up to all sorts of dodgy stuff for decades.