A 38-year-old businessman involved in a scam to con companies out of large sums of money has been jailed for four years.

Reginald Adaka had claimed during his trial last month that amounts paid into his bank account were for redistribution abroad in a foreign exchange business and he had no idea the cash was stolen.

But the jury at Maidstone Crown Court convicted him of acquiring the proceeds of criminal conduct, a sum of just under £500,000, and acquiring criminal property - just under £9,500 paid into his bank account in March 2003.

Jailing him, Judge Andrew Patience QC said imposing a suspended or non-custodial sentence - as he was urged by Adaka’s counsel - was “not realistic”.

He added: “I cannot avoid an immediate custodial sentence, not only to punish you but to send out the clearest possible message that those people prepared to launder the proceeds of criminal conduct can only expect the severest punishment from the court.”

Adaka, of Westfield Gardens, Borden, Sittingbourne, was jailed for three years for acquiring the proceeds of criminal conduct between November 2002 and February 2003, and one year consecutive for acquiring criminal property in March 2003, making a total of four years.

During his trial the prosecution said the father-of-three banked the cash after foreign businessmen were conned into parting with large amounts.

One Japanese boss of a scrap metal company handed over cash with the promise of making $20 million in a business deal.

A computer company chief from Canada stumped up $15,000 in the hope that he would get a multi-million dollar contract.

Both men were given various reasons why the payments were necessary, but discovered they had been conned in an elaborate sting.

Adaka claimed he knew nothing about a fraud, saying he had never met or heard of the two businessmen who were cheated.

He agreed that various sums were paid into his business account at Barclays Bank in Maidstone, but they were not his and he was only paid commission on foreign exchange transactions.

Defending Adaka, Anuja Dhir urged the court to impose either a suspended sentence or a community punishment order. She said he was extremely remorseful and wanted to make amends.

“He was used in this fraud to facilitate the money going into his account so that the fraudsters could get their hands on that money. The account was already open in his name and address and had been used for legitimate business purposes,” she said.

Miss Dhir also told the court that jailing Adaka would have a detrimental effect on his two sons, aged eight and four. Both had overcome severe speech impediments and other emotional problems but had started to regress following the court case.

The boys’ headteacher, Katrina Ware, said she had offered the family her support after reading a newspaper report of the court case.

She told Judge Patience that the eldest boy’s stammer had returned and he was very tearful, and that the youngest son was emotionally immature. The court also heard that Adaka’s wife has been ill with high blood pressure and the family, which also includes a 20-month-old daughter, is to be evicted from their home on April 1.

On passing sentence Judge Patience said he had weighed up all he had heard, and especially thanked Mrs Ware for giving up her “valuable time”, but felt custody was inevitable.

“I am very well aware and deeply sympathetic to their (Adaka’s sons) situation and conscious of the effect your criminal behaviour has already had upon them,” he said.

The court heard that Adaka, who was cleared of two more serious charges of conspiracy to defraud, received £22,000 for his part in the scam. A confiscation hearing is to be held on June 10, at which compensation and court costs will also be decided.

Adaka was convicted on majority verdicts of 10-2. After returning them, the jury heard that Adaka was convicted in 1996 of attempting to obtain property by deception and fined £300.

At the end of the trial the judge referred to the 48 questions jurors asked in notes sent to him throughout. "I won't say it's a record, but it is a tribute to the care you have given to this case," he said.