Pensioner caught in £20,000 money laundering scheme in bid to make 'easy money'

A pensioner involved himself in a £20,000 money laundering scheme to make “easy money”.

James Tominey, 65, received the cash into his bank account on March 31, 2021.

Tominey was caught after he attempted to withdraw the money the same day from his HSBC bank account.

The matter was forwarded to the fraud team after Tominey’s request was refused, as he did not have identification.

It was later discovered that Tominey, of Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, transferred £9,000 of the dirty cash to a woman who lived in the same village through his online banking account.

Tominey pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to possession of £20,000 of criminal property.

He also admitted transferring £9,000 of criminal property to the woman.

The court heard that Tominey attended his bank to withdraw £10,000.

An employee noticed that he had received £20,000 into his bank account earlier that day and quizzed Tominey on it.

Tominey told the employee that the money was a result of a redundancy package from a recruitment company.

He was then asked for identification to withdraw the cash, but Tominey stated that he “forgot it”.

The matter was reported to the bank’s fraud team for an investigation.

Around 20 minutes after entering the bank, Tominey was seen to transfer £9,000 from his online banking to the woman.

Tominey was arrested two weeks later when he gave a version of events to the police.

Prosecutor Darren Harty said: “He became involved under the pretence of easy money”.

Tracey Mulholland, defending, told sentencing that her client was to receive £300 from his cut in the scheme.

The lawyer added: “Mr Tominey said that he was naive and was making poor decisions.

“Both he and the woman were in the scheme willingly and knew what he was doing was wrong.”

Sheriff Vincent Lunny tagged Tominey for 20 weeks, keeping him indoors between 7pm and 7am.

The sheriff said: “This was a serious matter and in my view the custodial threshold has been passed.

“This is not a victimless crime – the handling of this money is a serious matter without which these gangs cannot operate.

“I suspect that this was drug money but this has not been confirmed either way but it was a significant scheme and is a serious blight on life in Scotland.”