Money launderers sentenced for handling illicit investment fraud funds

Three men who laundered money for a ruthless and sophisticated gang of fraudsters were last week (Friday, 27 September) sentenced at Kingston Crown Court.

Tarun Jain, 50, of Walsall, West Mids, was found guilty on three counts of money laundering in August. For more than two years between 2013 and 2015, Jain received over £87,000 of illegally obtained funds into a bank account in the name of Telebee Ltd for which he was the account holder.

Jain’s associate Ike Obiamiwe, 57 of East Clacton, London had already been found guilty on the same three counts of money laundering. A third man, Daniel Jordan, 36 of Bexleyheath, Kent, had been found guilty on two counts.

Jain and Obiamiwe laundered £64,000, and Daniel Jordan more than £80,000 from a ‘boiler room’ investment fraud that groomed elderly victims and took over £800,000 from at least 24 victims from across the country. Seven fraudsters were jailed earlier this year for their part in this scam in which they purported to be working for a company called ‘The Commodities Link.’

The remaining money that Jain and Obiamiwe handled came from a fraud in which one victim was persuaded to buy what he believed to be shares in a legitimate company trading on the London Stock Exchange. In fact these shares were never bought on the victim’s behalf, and three payments went instead into Jain’s bank account. Surrey Police identified this during investigations into Jain’s Telebee Ltd bank account. Jain tried to tell police that the bank account was established for a business, and that payments to Paul Muldoon, one of the seven found guilty of being a key player in investment scam, were consultancy fees. Obiamiwe described himself as a consultant and initially claimed to police that this was all part of a business opportunity he had discussed with a contact in Dubai.

Detective Inspector Matthew Durkin from Surrey Police said: “The conviction of Tarun Jain and the sentencing of Jain, Obiamiwe and Jordan is the final piece in the puzzle of our six year-long investigation into the vast criminal enterprise that was ‘The Commodities Link’.

“It’s pleasing to be able to draw a line under an extensive investigation with a further guilty verdict, and that is testament to Surrey Police’s economic crime unit’s skilled and determined team of detectives and financial investigators.

“People who receive illegally obtained funds often think they can get away with their crimes. However, my message is that allowing your account to be used for criminal money to pass through is a serious crime and we will pursue you for it.

“We were in no doubt that Tarun Jain, Ike Obiamiwe and Daniel Jordan knew exactly what they were involved in and were completely complicit in this fraud, and the juries agreed.”