Money launderers face jail after living a life of luxury

Two high living money launderers are facing jail for their part in a swindle which saw bank customers duped out of millions of pounds.

Qing Huang, 37, and Clarke Morgan-Findlay, 27, helped launder the proceeds of the scam through ‘mule’ bank accounts advertised on Facebook.

Huang also bribed a crooked Lloyds bank worker to open false accounts to clean the proceeds of the massive scam, Inner London Crown Court heard.

The fraud involved sending ‘smishing’ texts to customers asking them to call their bank about unusual activity with their account.

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

Huang and Morgan-Findlay visited high-end stores in London’s West End, buying luxury goods including designer handbags, jewellery and giftcards.

Morgan-Findlay boasted about his high life to friends, sending videos and screenshots of the mule account displaying the stolen proceeds.

Their mobile phones had thousands of messages relating to the offences as well as photographs, screenshots and videos of mule accounts and bank cards.

The pair were caught after officers were alerted to a Facebook account which had been set up for the sole purpose of attracting money mules.

In a video posted on the account, the user is seen wearing a Cartier watch with a black strap. Police found the same timepiece during Morgan-Findlay’s arrest in April 2018.

Officers seized £107,325 in cash as well as designer handbags and watches when Huang was arrested at his home on suspicion of money laundering.

Huang, of HMP Thameside, has admitted bribing a Lloyds Bank employee and three counts of money laundering.

Morgan-Findlay, of Hunsdon Road, Lewisham, southeast London, has admitted two counts of money laundering.

They face sentence on 11 March 2021.

Det Constable Ray Black, the investigating officer from the Met’s cyber crime unit, said: ‘Huang and Morgan-Findlay made their living off the misery of others.

‘While there’s no evidence to suggest they directly defrauded the victims themselves, they clearly played a key role in this organised crime network.

‘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.’

The convictions form part of an investigation into an organised crime network responsible for ‘smishing’ fraud offences across the country.
ENDS