MONEY LAUNDERING TRIAL CONVICTIONS

John Ojakovoh and Dominic Hockley secured the conviction this week at Southwark Crown Court of three men at the heart of a complex scheme to launder some £24 million of criminal property. The money laundering arrangements, which operated between 2018 and 2020, involved cash collection, an extensive network of bank accounts in the names of individuals and companies, and cryptocurrency traders. Two of the men claimed at trial that, at the time of any involvement on their part, they had believed the funds, companies and cryptocurrency trading concerned to be legitimate, and the third man claimed to have acted under duress; but the jury unanimously convicted all three men on all counts in the ninth week of the trial. A fourth man pleaded guilty at the start of the trial. Sentencing has been adjourned until June.

John Ojakovoh and Dominic Hockley were instructed for the prosecution by Giorgina Venturella of the CPS Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate. The case was investigated by HMRC.