A New Cross man has been jailed for his part in laundering millions obtained from victims by a criminal network posing as their bank in text messages. Clarke Daniel Morgan-Findlay, 26, of Hunsdon Road, pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering at Inner London Crown Court in September 2020. He has now been sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment. Morgan-Findlay was part of an organised crime network, along with Newham accomplice Quin Huang and former bank employee Ayman Touhami, from Lambeth, which engaged in a form of fraud known as ‘smishing’.
Quin Huang The losses attributed to the group against two major UK banks is conservatively estimated to be in the region of £20-£30million.
The fraudulent message usually appears on the victim’s mobile phone in the same thread as genuine texts received from their bank, deceiving them into thinking it is legitimate.
But the number given in the messages is fake and puts the victim through to fraudsters posing as bank workers who take the details needed to access their bank account.
The victim s money is then transferred out of their account by criminals into mule bank accounts set-up for the purpose.
The money is then laundered, in a process known as cashing out , which was where Huang, 37, and Morgan-Findlay s shopping trips came in.