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Ian Clark from Paisley, Darren Lee and Martin Williams both from Liverpool, worked together to defraud a branch of NatWest in the North West over a May bank holiday weekend in 2004.

Clark paid worthless cheques into a UK company bank account, Britanniacity Ltd, held by Lee and Williams.

The cheques subsequently passed through the clearing system and the majority of the funds ended up in an account in Riga, Latvia. Further attempts were made to move the stolen funds to an account in Dubai, UAE.

The group created a large number of documents to make it appear as though the money was linked to a business deal for 38,000 mobile phone handsets.

A fourth man, Lee Quincey from Ashton-under-Lyne pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud in October 2007 after his fingerprints were found on a number of the cheque and credit slips paid in at the bank.

Jonathan Quinn, from Nottingham, who was responsible for the Latvian bank account pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money back in September 2007. He is currently serving 18 years for drugs offences and was given three years imprisonment in relation to this case.

Williams, Lee and Clark were all found guilty at Southwark Crown Court last Wednesday, 5 March 2008.

Quincey was sentenced to five years and 11 months, Williams and Lee were both sentenced to five years and nine months and Clark was sentenced to three years.

A total of 16 suspects have been charged with conspiracy to defraud and supplementary offences to date.

Because of the number of defendants involved it was necessary to split the case into two separate trials. Monday’s verdicts mark the end of the first trial.

Of the £20 million that the gang attempted to steal, 95 per cent of the monies either never left NatWest or have subsequently been recovered by City of London Police, NatWest and its overseas agency banks.

City Police officer DC Mick Case, said, “The City of London Police is the lead force in the UK for fraud. These results should send out the message to anyone considering engaging in any large scale fraud in the UK that by working together with our partnership agencies we have the tools and resources to bring offenders to justice.”

Jonathan Shawcross, director of group security and fraud at NatWest’s parent RBS, said that financial crime does not pay.

“Our systems for detecting fraudulent activity are more sophisticated than they’ve ever been and as this case demonstrates the police will pursue those who perpetuate fraud relentlessly,” he added.

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Related links

• City of London Police