Bradley Rogers was arrested in Spain Bradley Rogers was arrested in Spain
London - A former Durban man convicted of laundering proceeds from a £5.7 million fraud scheme has been jailed.
Bradley Rogers, 29, who had been working for an international fraudster in Spain, was extradited to the UK last year.
He was sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail at the Ipswich Crown Court on Friday.
Rogers was convicted last month of money laundering, but cleared of two counts of conspiracy to defraud.
Judge Rupert Overbury told Rogers: “You willingly laundered sums of money through bank accounts for no other reason than personal greed.”
Rogers was said to have processed £715 000 from acts of fraud through his bank account between October 2007 and September 2010.
His former boss, Tony Muldoon, who was also extradited from Spain to the UK, pleaded guilty to two offences of conspiracy to defraud and was jailed on Friday for seven years and five months.
The prosecution alleged that Rogers had acted as Muldoon’s “lieutenant”. The former Queensburgh Boys’ School pupil had been employed by Muldoon and was paid a salary.
At the age of 23, Rogers had surrendered control of his bank account to Muldoon and from then on it was used to process the proceeds of crime.
Judge Overbury told Rogers: “Without those who are prepared to launder the proceeds of fraud, the success of such criminal enterprises would be limited.”
The money that passed through Rogers’s bank account came from fraud in which there were 14 000 victims, prosecutor Nic Lobbenberg told the court.
Internet sites advertised non-existent jobs as escorts with the promise of high earnings in return for an initial fee. No work materialised and no fees were refunded.
Other victims were offered the chance to have credit card debt cancelled in return for a fee, which was never refunded, and no reduction was made to what they owed.
The court heard how Rogers had worked for Muldoon, helping to crew his luxury yacht since 2010 while the vessel was based in Spain.
Defending, Michael Skelly said Rogers had provided a facility for the processing of criminal proceeds, rather than encouraged such behaviour.
When he handed over control of his account to Muldoon, Rogers lacked business experience and maturity, Skelly said.
Muldoon, 66, was detained last June in Spain. He is said to have masterminded the operation.
The others convicted alongside Rogers are Geraldine French, 60, who was in charge of administration for Muldoon in Spain, and UK-based businessmen Mark Bell, 41, and Colin Samuels, 61. All have been found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. Former UK police detective Christopher Taylor, 57, was convicted of money laundering.
Daily News