Launderer kept a stash in Aldi bag
AFOOTBALL youth coach stashed £250,000 of criminal cash under his mattress and in an Aldi bag in his girlfriend’s wardrobe.
Dad-of-five Terence Scott, 51, was jailed for 20 months at Liverpool Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Prosecutors said taxi driver Scott, of Liverpool Road South, Maghull, was a “warehouse man” for serious organised criminals – although no evidence was found to show where the money came from.
His partner, Catherine Evans, 53, of the same address, admitted assisting an offender after telling an associate to sneak a handbag of cash out of their home during a police raid.
Paul Mitchell, prosecuting, told the court the defendants had been a couple, but claimed they were separated, with Scott living at a flat in Blundellsands Road East, Waterloo.
Mr Mitchell said Scott declared a £15,000 annual income from taxi driving, but a check of his vehicle revealed he had travelled fewer than 10,000 miles in the past year.
Police raided the flat in Blundellsands Road on August 11 last year. A bag under his mattress was found to contain £33,475 cash – of which £3,190 was in Scottish notes.
Mr Mitchell said Scottish money was often associated with money laundering in England, as Scottish notes are not given out by English banks and are returned to the banking system if used in shops.
A further €10,185 was found in the flat, along with a torn piece of bank note, used by organised criminals as a token or receipt when large amounts of cash are handed over.
Officers found the Aldi bag inside a wardrobe at the Maghull address. It contained £198,985, divided into various quantities, with £40,000 of it in Scottish notes.
A further £1,160 was found in the house, as well as £740 in a handbag, cash counting machines, an electronic note checking device and several holdalls still in the packaging.
But Mr Mitchell said: “During the search a young woman named Olivia McNulty was present. While police were searching, she attempted to leave carrying a handbag. She was stopped by the officers and that bag was searched. Inside was £9,760.”
Evans later admitted telling Ms McNulty to take the bag out of the house.
Alex di Francesco, defending Scott, said his client had worked for many years as a taxi driver and had coaching qualifications from teams in the West Cheshire League.
Judge Alan Conrad, QC, passing sentence, said: “Professional organised criminals acquire large quantities of criminal cash. They need assistance laundering and disposing of that cash.
“People such as you give assistance to such criminals and that is one of the factors that makes offences of this nature so serious.”
Evans was handed a sixmonth prison term, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and a three-month curfew between 9pm and 6am.