Detective awash with cash after selling seized drugs
Leeds – A corrupt detective made £600,000 (NZ$1.08 million) by selling seized heroin, cocaine and cannabis back on the streets.
Detective Constable Nicholas McFadden, 38, of West Yorkshire police, who was in charge of looking after evidence, exploited ‘‘slack’’ procedures to take class A and B drugs. McFadden and his 41-year-old brother, Simon, a debt collector, ‘‘spent heavily but made so much money they didn’t know what to do with it’’, jurors at Leeds Crown Court heard. The pair paid for exotic holidays, home improvements, designer clothing, expensive jewellery and private numberplates for their cars.
The detective was caught after he regularly paid cash into ATMs, triggering a bank security alert.
Police found almost £160,000 in banknotes stuffed into sacks in his garage and £20,000 hidden around his house. They also discovered £6000 stashed in his car.
‘‘Nicholas McFadden exploited his trusted position to steal drugs in very substantial quantities,’’ said Paul Greaney, QC, for the prosecution. ‘‘Drugs which the police had succeeded in removing from the streets were put back by the accused men . . . for the sole purpose of making money for themselves.’’
McFadden told a number of lies to explain his wealth. He told colleagues his wife received an insurance payout after getting cancer and told his wife he had made lots of money on overtime and that his police pension was kicking in. He rekindled a ‘‘strong friendship’’ with a former partner, also a police officer, giving her more than £13,000 in cash and buying her a car, telling her he had a windfall after selling his house.
After his arrest, McFadden told police he found bags of cash in a ditch. He denied stealing the drugs and conspiring to supply them but pleaded guilty to money laundering, claiming he stole the cash from a drug dealer and made money selling illegal steroids.
Simon McFadden denied conspiracy to supply. Jurors found Nicholas McFadden guilty of stealing class A and B drugs including heroin and cocaine, and both men guilty of conspiring to supply them. Simon McFadden’s wife has admitted money laundering and will be sentenced with the two brothers this week.