Charlie Myatt and Giles Fleming successfully prosecute money-laundering gang

Charles Myatt, leading Giles Fleming, recently prosecuted an organised crime figure and his associates, who laundered hundreds of thousands of pounds of suspected drugs money. Convictions were secured against 6 out of the 7 defendants in this complex multi-handed case, including the leading figure, who was sentenced to just under 5 years for money laundering offences.

Legal Challenges and Unusual Features

The case included a number of unusual features. One legal issue to be addressed early on was the correct way to charge a conspiracy to launder money (strictly, a conspiracy to convert/transfer criminal property). Although a substantive offence of money laundering only requires that a defendant must “know or suspect” that the property is the proceeds of criminal conduct, the Court of Appeal have held that in order to be guilty of a conspiracy to launder money, a defendant must have either known (if the property was already identified) or intended (if it was not yet identified) that the property to be converted/transferred was the proceeds of crime. This is a significant increase in the mental element that Mr Myatt and Mr Fleming had to prove to the jury in this case – suspicion would not have been enough.

Application for Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO)

Another unusual feature was the decision to apply for a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) against the main defendant, despite the fact that he would inevitably be deported after he had served his sentence. This would normally render an SCPO unnecessary and therefore inappropriate, but it was accepted that an SCPO was justified here because the evidence had shown this defendant returning to the UK more than once during the period of the offending (despite having been deported before).

Ongoing Confiscation Proceedings

Confiscation proceedings are ongoing against several of the defendants, although this may be affected by current prison overcrowding, which has led to the first defendant being deported rather earlier than was expected (and before the confiscation process had been completed).

Modern Slavery Appeal

Finally, one of the defendants argued that her circumstances amounted to modern slavery, and an appeal is pending in relation to this defendant – watch this space!