Christian ‘turned by thoughts of untold wealth’, court is told

A former churchgoer, who dreamed of owning gold and driving a Porsche, helped an international conman launder hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The money was the proceeds of scams after innocent victims were ripped off by fake investment offers. And although Jordan Workman was not part of the fraud - he set up two banks accounts in the UK in which £314,000 was then laundered.

Lawyers for the 25-year-old married man told Canterbury Crown Court of Workman’s Christian values of honesty and trustworthiness.

Among the people who testified to Workman’s “humility and integrity” was a former Ashford chief superintendent of police and the boss of a Mayfair investment company.

But Judge Rupert Lowe told him: “You were driven by personal greed. Your head was turned by thoughts of untold wealth. The idea of finding gold for yourself and driving Porches had a very significant influence on you.”

The court heard how Workman met a Russian-American fraudster calling himself Vlad Malay at a Christian retreat in Israel.

Workman was impressed by Malay’s boasts of being wealthy and was “groomed” into setting up a business called Red Rock Capital with two bank accounts in the UK in which hundreds of thousands of pounds were then laundered.

Prosecutor Caroline Knight said the money came from victims of “cold call” scams.

She added: “There is no evidence Workman was ever involved in the fraud but he was suspicious of Vlad’s activities, even joking he might face a 10-tyear sentence for his part.

WhatsApp messages between the two men showed the pair had shared jokes about the fraud.

Bartholomew O’Toole, defending, said Workman met Vlad while in Israel on an International biblical and theological studies.

“He liked and trusted him initially and was not involved in the fraud.”

The court heard how the banks later became suspicious and froze the accounts, enabling some of the money to be returned to those defrauded.

Mr O’Toole added Workman is the son of a Christian speaker who visits prisons and worshipped with his son at a non-denominational church in Ashford.

Former Kent chief superintendent Alistair Hope, and fellow churchgoer, told the judge that Workman was “thoughtful, reserved and had been trusted” by his church community.

Workman, who now lives in North London and works at a Mayfair-based investment company, admitted laundering more than £240,000 and was given a two year jail sentence suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work for the community.