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A money laundering prevention specialist has been spared prison after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about his own company in connection to an £850,000 fraud scam.
Police carried out a five-year investigation into Dominic Thorncroft, from Orpington, who ran a business and was a former boss of the national association of payment service providers.
Thorncroft was found guilty of six charges relating to regulation breaches following a trial at Southwark Crown Court but acquitted by a jury of a more serious allegation of being complicit in money laundering.
The former company director, whose firm in Peckham provided money services, was arrested last year after an investigation was launched when police seized a laptop in 2016 containing details about 60 victims of a scam.
Payments of more than £850,000 were made by victims between July and October 2014 after they were contacted by a salesman offering them to invest in a money-making scheme.
The types of schemes varied but police found none of them existed and had been made up.
Thorncroft, of Chelsfield Lane, Orpington was found to have paid money from his account, where the money had been deposited, to fraudsters in Hong Kong and China.
Detectives found evidence Thorncroft had met one of the fraud suspects and had a copy of their passport but failed to disclose this in 2014, which was a criminal offence not to submit the suspicious activity report.
He was also found to have kept £16,000 from four victims of the scam for nearly five years in the company's account despite repaying approximately £100,000 to identified victims.
Thorncroft was found guilty of breaching money laundering regulations after it emerged he had transferred £256,000 to someone subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order in February 2016.
Officers from the Met Police Economic Crime Team questioned Thorncroft under caution three times in April and May 2019.
He was charged on May 7, 2020 with offences including the failure to submit a suspicious activity report, four counts of retaining unlawful credit and one of breaching money laundering regulations.
A jury acquitted Thorncroft of a money laundering charge at the trial.
"Thorncroft paid absolutely no regards to his overriding duty to anti-money laundering regulations..."
The 56-year-old was chairman of the Association of UK Payment Institutions (AUKPI) for 14 years and was his company's money laundering regulation officer.
Thorncroft was given a suspended sentence on July 30, 2021 at Southwark Crown Court after a judge heard mitigating factors surrounding his charitable work and family situation.
The judge's sentencing report noted: "Perhaps most significant is the fact that you have not gained financially from any of these offences and you remain someone of modest means.
"I accept that there are a number of points in mitigation.
"The Skype messages with your assistant appear to show a genuine desire to repay the money to the victims of fraud at the time when you first made aware of it.
"You also co-operated with the police in providing them with details of the sums retained.
"As soon as you became aware of the fraud and your company’s role within it you immediately changed your procedures to ensure that greater checks were applied to future transactions.
"Finally, I also take into account the fact that at the time this was a relatively new way of committing fraud and that even the police were not yet fully aware of the methods being used by fraudsters."
Det Sgt Mark Hoddinott, from the Central Specialist Crime Command (Economic Crime), said after the trial: "This was a really complex fraud investigation where a person with serious responsibilities and knowledge of the regulations around anti-money laundering failed in their duties to make the required disclosures to the authorities.
“If Thorncroft had complied with his own company policies then he would not have been prosecuted.
"Instead, he paid absolutely no regards to his overriding duty to anti-money laundering regulations; consequently, many individuals suffered great financial loss and considerable personal trauma.
"In his role as the chairperson of AUKPI when these crimes were being committed by him, Thorncroft worked closely with law makers, regulators, banks and other financial institutions, representing the interests of the money remittance sector.
“If Thorncroft had complied with his own company policies then he would not have been prosecuted..."
"The AUKPI provided its members with anti-money laundering training.
"I'm really pleased that a dedicated team of Met officers investigating this case have secured this conviction, especially grateful to Det Con Silje Mikkelsen for her investigative tenacity and commitment to supporting the victims.
"I would also like to express my thanks and gratitude to the jury who I am sure at times found the case being presented before them complex and possibly confusing.
"This conviction is a reminder to those working in the regulated sector of their duties when it comes to money laundering regulations."
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