Mersey men face jail over £15m bank fraud

Mar 9 2008

A gang of crooked businessmen will be sentenced tomorrow after using a “flaw in the system” to steal more than £15 million from NatWest.

Following its takeover by the Bank of Scotland they realised they could pay in worthless cheques and pocket a fortune before they bounced.

By the time the theft was discovered, the missing money had been laundered through a string of companies on its way to Latvia.

London’s Southwark Crown Court heard that fortunately police in Riga realised something was amiss and tipped off their UK colleagues.

Ian Clark, 37, of Nelson Road. Paisley; Darren Lee, 35, of Caldy Road, Aintree, Liverpool, and Martin Williams, 29, of Bailey Drive, Bootle, Merseyside, were convicted last week of conspiracy to defraud between January 1 and July 31, 2004.

Lee Quincey, 41, from Ashton-under-Lyne, who admitted the conspiracy, will be sentenced with them.