A Mottingham man has avoided jail for his part in a large-scale money laundering operation which saw millions of pounds siphoned into Chinese bank accounts.
Raymond Osborne, 69, was one of three couriers who met the gang’s ringleader Quaojun Lou, 38, in car parks in Lewisham and Poplar where they passed him large quantities of cash.
Osborne, of Duddington Close, was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended for a year, after pleading guilty to one count of money-laundering.
The ringleader Lou, from the Isle of Dogs, pleaded guilty to seven counts of money-laundering after changing his plea two days into his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
He was jailed for a total of three and a half years.
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The other couriers, Barry Nixon, 55, from Brentwood, was jailed for 16 months after admitting two counts of money-laundering.
Gordon Bahula, 48, from Liverpool, also admitted two counts of money-laundering and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for a year.
Raymond Osborne, Gordon Bahula, Barry Nixon and Quaojun Lou.
On June 2 last year, police raised Lou’s home address, seizing £351, 064 in cash.
During the investigation the three couriers were identified, and police seized £302, 795 in cash from Nixon’s home address.
Detective Constable Chris Woods said: "Criminals will go to great lengths to launder the proceeds of their crimes but we will go to greater lengths to pursue and disrupt their networks."
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