Published: 19 April 2011

http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=19431

THREE PEOPLE were found guilty at a London court today (April 19) for their part in a large-scale money-laundering network which operated between Britain and Jamaica.

The convictions follow an extensive investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service's Trident, working closely with colleagues from Jamaica.

Burnett Morris, 48, his wife Paulette Morris, 49, were today found guilty of conspiracy to launder money; co-defendant Kevin Robinson, 40, was found guilty at Kingston Crown Court, in south London, of transferring criminal property out of the jurisdiction of the UK.

Four others - Gerard Dean Wright, 28, Fiona Holness, 32, Roisin Keville, 34, Dwayne Samuel, 21 - had pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property out of the jurisdiction of the UK at an earlier hearing.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place at Kingston Crown Court on May 27. Burnett and Paulette Morris were remanded in custody; the others were bailed until sentencing.

Trident's Financial Investigation Unit began investigating after identifying a criminal network based in south London that was sending regular sums of cash to associates in Jamaica through various money bureaux.

The prosecution maintained that the cash was the proceeds of Burnett Morris' drug dealing on the streets of south London.

Key suspects were identified in the UK and Jamaica, and police worked with officers from the Financial Investigations Division in Kingston, which is part of Jamaica's Ministry of Finance and Planning, to gather evidence against them.

The network - headed by Burnett Morris and his wife Paulette - used associates and family members to send small amounts of money, often £900 a time.

Cash was sent almost daily, sometimes up to five times a day. Over a six-year period, the network transferred more than £500,000. In addition Paulette spent more than £250,000 on travel to and from Jamaica and Florida and on luxury items including designer clothes, a diamond valued at £8,000 and other jewellery. She rented a safety deposit at Harrods.

Whilst living a millionaire's lifestyle, Paulette and Burnett Morris claimed benefits, including housing allowance, Council Tax benefit and free school meals for two of their children.

Enquiries in Jamaica have shown that the family own two luxurious houses on the outskirts of Kingston. One of these homes was in the process of being built and Paulette Morris had been ordering expensive material from Miami, Florida, to be imported to Kingston. This included a large quantity of marble and a £16,000 Bang and Olufsen sound system.

When officers visited Jamaica as part of their inquiries there was evidence of a pool being dug out within the grounds of one of the houses, named Golden Acres.

The Morris' also own at least 14 racehorses, which regularly race at Caymanas Park, Jamaica.

The defendants were arrested on May 14, 2009 at addresses in south-east London and Cambridge during an operation that involved more than 100 officers from Trident, Lewisham borough, the Met's Territorial Support Group and Met dog units.

When officers searched Burnett and Paulette Morris’ homes in neighbouring Reigate Road and Ballamore Road, Bromley, they found lock-knives, knuckle-dusters, machetes and other weapons. More than £4,000 in cash was also seized.

Detective Inspector Gill Barratt, from Trident's Financial Investigation (Payback) Unit, said: "We are determined to put criminals out of business by seizing their assets in the UK and abroad and prosecuting them for money laundering.

"We will continue to effectively work with colleagues in Jamaica to ensure they cannot profit from crime in the UK by sending money home to Jamaica.

"Our intention is to take out the criminal role models in both countries by taking away their homes, cars and other ill-gotten possessions. In cases like this money seized from criminals will go back into tackling crime on both sides of the Atlantic."

Since its inception in April 2007 the Trident Financial Investigation (Payback) unit has obtained court orders to repay nearly £7m from nearly 400 criminals operating on the streets of London. The unit is also part of the Serious and Organised Crime Command which this year alone has hit over 150 criminals for court orders totalling over £14m.