Brian Sims
Editor
Brian Sims
Editor
TWO MEN from East London have been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to a combined total of nine-and-a-half years in prison for opening bank accounts which were then used to launder money from fraud. The sentencing follows an investigation and arrests by officers of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, the specialist banking industry-sponsored policing operation.
Between 2017 and 2019, Jan Ciecierski and Rukon Miah, both aged 39, opened no fewer than 394 fraudulent business accounts that were used to launder fraudulently obtained funds.
Miah worked as a business manager at a bank, while Ciecierski supplied counterfeit documents for Miah to open the accounts. The fraudulent money was then passed through the bank accounts to be cashed out or otherwise sent to off-shore banks.
The money funnelled through the accounts was mostly obtained by fraud committed against UK and international companies (including charities) as well as individuals.
Miah worked at the bank for six years before being arrested in 2019 for conspiracy to defraud the bank. Ciecierski was linked to the investigation as Miah provided the names, addresses and ID documents of the individuals, as well as counterfeit utility bills that were used to open the accounts.
In total, Ciecierski and Miah stole circa £7.3 million from defrauding open bank accounts, which were subsequently used to steal and receive money from fraudulent conduct.
Proof of involvement
Thanks to the police’s investigation, officers were able to find items such as ID cards, bank cards, cheque books, counterfeit bills and post from Miah and Ciecierski’s home addresses that matched the details of the fraudulent accounts, in turn proving their involvement in this crime.
Ciecierski has been sentenced to four years in prison, while Miah must spend five-and-a-half years behind bars.
Detective Constable Ben O’Shea said: “Ciecierski and Miah enabled a huge amount of fraud to occur on a vast scale by using Miah’s job as a bank business manager to open fraudulent bank accounts and steal money. The fraud losses linked to the criminal actions involved are above the £7 million mark. The duo gave no thought to how their terrible actions could affect the innocent charities and people whom they targeted. In short, those trying to make society a better place.”
O’Shea concluded: “In collaboration with the banking industry, the police service has worked tirelessly to bring Ciecierski and Miah to justice. We’re glad that they have been caught. We will continue to work hard to bring to justice those who seek to profit from fraud.”
