People trafficking gang’s ‘masterclass’ as millions laundered across the Lothians

A money laundering and people trafficking gang has been convicted of running the Lothians operation of a sophisticated international criminal network.

The quartet was responsible for “cleaning” cash stolen in computer hacking attacks by transferring it into the accounts of workers trafficked to West Lothian.

Latvians Hardijs Langsteins, 37, Maris Kursis, 30, Aivars Dzagarjan, 28, and Arvids Civkors, 30, were found guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday after a 14-week trial.

A source told The Scotsman: “This was a masterclass in how to launder money. It was an international operation with links back to Latvia.”

Crime bosses in Latvia pulled the strings as money was stolen from companies in so-called malware attacks – software capable of stealing money from online bank accounts.

In one such raid, more than £500,000 was swiped from a Manchester-based pharmaceuticals firm.

The total amount of money stolen is not yet known, but is believed to run into millions.

The four, led by ringleader Langsteins, were responsible for trafficking Latvians to West Lothian and using them to launder the money.

They would help trafficked workers to get jobs at a Tesco depot in West Lothian and set up bank accounts for their earnings.

Stolen money from malware attacks was also paid into these accounts before the gang would head to cashpoints in Bathgate, Livingston and elsewhere to withdraw it.

Some of the trafficked workers were complicit while others were threatened with beatings if they refused to

0 Clockwise from main: Maris Kursis at a bank in Bathgate, Aivars Dzagarjan at a cashpoint in Armadale and ringleader Hardijs Langsteins in Manchester

co-operate. The gang was only brought to justice after police were tipped off by the Latvian community and two trafficked workers who became whistleblowers.

The whistleblowers are understood to have raised the alarm with friends in the Latvian community in West Lothian before fleeing back to their homeland.

Police launched a painstaking investigation in April 2016, finding the gang’s victims put up in crowded accommodation at several addresses STEPHEN HEALY Detective Chief Inspector

across West Lothian. Some victims were forced to surrender their wages to the group. Others were made to open bank accounts, which were then used for money laundering and fraud by the crime group.

All four were arrested and subsequently charged on 2 December 2016.

Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Healy said: “All four of these men subjected their victims to threats, intimidation and coercion, leaving them in fear for their safety and believing

that they were in debt to the group, forcing them to hand over their bank accounts in order to repay them.

“The group then committed fraud and laundered the proceeds of these crimes through the accounts.

“This group actively targeted vulnerable Latvian nationals looking to come to the UK for a better life and placed them in crowded and squalid conditions, exploiting them for profit.”

Langsteins, from Salford, near Manchester; Kursis, from

Falkirk; Civkors, from Edinburgh, and Dzagarjan, from Northumberland, all pled not guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in August to the offences, which were alleged to have taken place between 20 June 2012 and 2 December 2016.

On the fourth day of their deliberation yesterday, the jury of nine women and six men found all the accused guilty by a majority. All four were remanded in custody.

“This group actively targeted vulnerable Latvian nationals looking to come to the UK for a better life and placed them in ... squalid conditions”