Money laundering trial told that socialite Stunt took ‘very hands-on approach’

SOCIALITE JAMES Stunt took “a very hands-on approach” as his company became involved in a “sophisticated” money laundering operation, prosecutors have claimed.

The former husband of heiress Petra Ecclestone is one of eight defendants on trial over an alleged network which the court heard saw £266m deposited in the bank account of Bradford gold dealer Fowler Oldfield over two years.

Prosecutors claim the “criminal cash” was brought into business addresses owned or managed by Stunt and his co-defendants between January 2014 and September 2016.

Leeds Crown Court previously heard that hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time was brought in carrier bags and holdalls to Fowler Oldfield in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Jurors were told the alleged money laundering then “went national” as one of Fowler Oldfield’s directors, Greg Frankel, became a vice president of Stunt & Co, and Stunt’s premises in London also started receiving cash. Prosecutor Nicholas Clarke QC said the defendants hid the origin of the money by washing it through a company bank account and using the proceeds to buy gold.

Five defendants from Fowler Oldfield – Greg Frankel, Daniel Rawson, Paul Miller, Heidi Buckler and Haroon “Harry” Rashid – all say the prosecution cannot prove that any of the cash was criminal property.

Stunt and the defendants from his company – Alex Tulloch and Francesca Sota – say they “don’t know whether it was” criminal cash, the court has heard.

Buckler, 45, Frankel, 44, Miller, 45, Rashid, 51, Rawson, 45, Sota, 34, Stunt, 40 and Tulloch, 41, all deny money laundering. Stunt and Sota also deny forgery.

The trial continues.