Article: published on 29 November 2023
Six individuals have been sentenced for acting as money mules and laundering money
Money mules sentenced for defrauding elderly victims
At a glance
Six people are sentenced following a £250,000 money laundering case
Two elderly victims in Wiltshire were targeted by the fraudsters
The chair of National Trading Standards says the sentences "send a clear signal this sort of offending will not be tolerated"
- Published
Six people have been sentenced for their part in the defrauding of two elderly residents out of thousands of pounds.
The individuals acted as money mules in a £250,000 money laundering case which was uncovered more than four years ago.
They were sentenced at Swindon Crown Court in Wiltshire on Friday.
Swindon Borough Council's cabinet member for public protection, Nick Holder, said: "Money laundering is not a victimless crime".
Money mules are people who help criminal organisations launder their illicit profits.
They do this by providing their own accounts to help receive and transfer fraudulent funds, assisting to make the money appear legitimate.
Money mules often also keep some of the money for themselves.
The payments grew
One of the victims was an 80-year-old man from Bradford-on-Avon, who told Wiltshire Council trading standards officers he had paid £55,000 into an account for a new roof, after an initial £2,800 quote for guttering work.
The money was split into the accounts of Serena Hodge, 47, and James Stinchcombe, 39, even though they never visited the property.
Instead, they withdrew the money in cash, gave a share to rogue traders and kept the remainder for themselves.
During the course of the investigation, officers identified a second victim from Chippenham who had paid £41,790 for roofing work into the account of Hodge's partner, 35-year-old Patrick Egan.
The victim was quoted £7,450 for guttering repair following a cold call from a rogue trader, who has since been jailed.
The roofing work was carried out unsatisfactorily and the victim was then targeted again and persuaded to pay £9,850 to repair the faulty work.
Two further payments were made to 35-year-old Arfan Asif who pleaded guilty to laundering £8,000 of the victim's money.
The victim from Chippenham was contacted repeatedly
At this stage, the victim suspected he had been targeted by rogue traders and refused to make further payments.
But shortly after, the same victim was contacted by Liam Ben Turner-Belshaw, of Chadderton, who claimed to be an HMRC officer.
He persuaded him to pay another £74,650 owards investigation costs into an account he was told was controlled by the Crown Court.
The money was actually paid into the account of 42-year-old Claire Pemberton who pleaded guilty to money laundering.
The six people involved were sentenced to the following:
Patrick Egan, of Grays in Essex, was jailed for two years. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences.
Serena Hodge, of Grays, had an 18-month term suspended for two years and was given 150 hours of unpaid work. She pleaded guilty to money laundering offences
Liam Ben Turner-Belshaw, of Chadderton, had a six-month jail term suspended for two years. He admitted impersonating an HMRC officer.
James Stinchcombe, from Chippenham, received a two-year community order, 30 days rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences.
Arfan Asif of Cleveland was sentenced to an 18-month community order, 25 days of rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work. He pleaded guilty to laundering £8,000 of the victim's money.
Claire Pemberton, of Oldham, received a 15-month community order, 25 days of rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work. She pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, said: "This was a serious case of organised fraud that saw significant sums of money taken from elderly and vulnerable victims before being laundered.
"This sentence sends a clear signal that this sort of offending will not be tolerated and that we will support colleagues locally to protect consumers across the country."