Pair are locked up for their roles in laundering op
Two people have been jailed for laundering tens of thousands of pounds secured through prostitution and other criminal activity.
The duo have been jailed for a combined total of fourand-a-half years for their involvement in a money laundering operation in Portsmouth, following a lengthy investigation by the Eastern Area Crime Team (EACT) aided by the Financial Investigation Unit.
In September 2021 officers began to suspect an address on Powerscourt Road in Portsmouth was involved in illegal activities related to prostitution. Following a number of enquiries warrants were executed in Portsmouth in November 2021 and an arrest made in Sunderland in February 2022. A detailed financial investigation was launched into the occupants’ bank records. This revealed large sums of money, believed to have been obtained through prostitution and criminal activity, being moved between their accounts, third parties and contacts in China.
Wan Si Kam, 56, of Hylton Street in Sunderland and Clive Porter, 62, of Powerscourt Road in
Copnor, were found guilty of acquiring, using or possessing criminal property at Portsmouth Crown Court last October.
The court heard how bank account analysis revealed that between May 2020 and December 2021, Porter received a total of £62,871 which had not been declared to HMRC and made payments to a person of £55,437.63. He also sent £31,200 to a contact in China. Kam received £71,874 from an unknown source and sent this to a third party, who then sent it to an unknown contact in China.
Returning to the court for sentencing, Kam received three years imprisonment and Porter 18 months.
Police Staff Investigator Mark Humble from the EACT said: “This has been a gratifying end to a long-running, detailed communications and financial investigation.”