Inside man in smishing scam walks free

A Lloyds bank worker who helped launder the proceeds of a multi-million pound smishing scam has walked free.

Ayman Touhami, 25, was bribed by Chinese fraudster Qing Huang, 37, to open false accounts to rinse the profits of the massive scam.

He helped Huang and Clarke Morgan-Findlay, 27, to launder the proceeds of the scam through ‘mule’ bank accounts.

The fraud involved sending texts to customers asking them to call their bank about unusual activity with their account, Inner London Crown Court heard.

When the customers called the number they spoke to fraudsters posing as banking staff who tricked them out of their personal banking details.

One victim received a text about an online Apple store purchase of £1,499 using her account.

When she called the number and gave the fraudsters her bank details she actually authorised a bank transfer of £46,000 from her account.

Huang and Morgan-Findlay blew a fortune at top West End stores, buying luxury goods including designer handbags, watches, Louboutin shoes, jewellery, and high-value giftcards.

The items were then sold to ‘liberate’ the money, the court heard.

Morgan-Findlay openly boasted about his high-flying lifestyle, sending friends videos and screenshots of the mule account overflowing with stolen cash.

Their mobile phones contained thousands of messages discussing the offences, as well as photos, screenshots, and videos of mule accounts and bank cards.

The pair were caught after officers received a tip-off about a Facebook account set up for the sole purpose of attracting “money mules”.

In a video posted to the account, the user shows off a Cartier watch with a black strap.

Police found the same timepiece at Morgan-Findlay’s home when he was arrested in April 2018.

Officers seized £107,325 in cash along with designer handbags and watches when they arrested Huang at his home.

Huang had boasted that Touhami was his ‘man on the inside,’ who opened bogus bank accounts for money and gifts.

Police traced WhatsApp messages between the pair and they were also captured meeting on CCTV.

Touhami told police he had only opened ‘two or three’ accounts for Huang but investigations revealed there were at least 12.

Touhami, of Oakmead Road, Balham, southwest London, admitted taking bribes and was given an 18 month jail sentence suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of community work.

Huang, of Prospect Row, Newham, admitted bribing a Lloyds Bank employee and three counts of money laundering.

At an earlier hearing Huang was described as a ‘persistent and determined fraudster’ as he was jailed for five and a half years

Morgan-Findlay, of Hunsdon Road, Lewisham, southeast London, admitted two counts of money laundering and was jailed for two years and six months imprisonment.

Detective Constable Angelina Pitorri, the investigating officer from the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit, said: ‘Huang and Morgan-Findlay made their living off the misery of others, while Touhami enabled this to happen by abusing his position at the bank in exchange for cash and gifts.

‘Money laundering is often glamorised in popular media, and can be thought of as a victimless crime, however every pound involved has been taken from an innocent member of the public and it has a significant impact on their lives.’

Steven Wilson, CEO of the Cyber Defence Alliance, said: ‘The CDA, working with our member banks, were able to identify significant criminal activity of an organised crime network who were fraudulently obtaining large amounts of money from UK customers.

‘We supplied our partners in the Met with actionable intelligence and through complex enquiries, they were able to identify a group of highly active fraudsters who were stealing millions of pounds from unsuspecting members of the public. These convictions illustrate the importance of industry and law enforcement working together to protect the UK public.’
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