A courier at the heart of James Stunt's £266million money laundering enterprise used his hat as a glove, gripped notes with his knuckles and stashed a secret 'code word' in his sock to avoid being linked to the 'criminal behaviour', a court heard.
The jury at the socialite's trial was shown the CCTV video of the suspect who delivered £200,000 in notes to the Fowler Oldfield ‘counting room’ in Bradford as the prosecution detailed its case against eight people in the dock.
Prosecutor Nicholas Clarke QC told the jury that the footage of a man handling cash was taken long before the pandemic, so there was only one reason to wipe down surfaces. He said: ‘This was not legitimate business. This was criminal behaviour. A criminal delivering the proceeds of crime and well aware of forensic traces he might leave'.
James Stunt, the former husband of heiress Petra Ecclestone, is alleged to have been at the heart of the money laundering scheme to turn criminal cash into gold.
Newly released footage showed a particularly careful courier is shown covering up any forensic evidence of his presence at every stage. The unidentified man is shown arriving at the Bradford office on August 19, 2016, carrying a holdall stuffed with cash.
He handles parcels using the heels of his hands or his closed knuckles, so as not to leave fingerprints, and used his cloth cap as a makeshift glove. He then wipes down the packaging with his cloth cap, and wipes down every surface he has touched, with the cap, his sleeves or a tissue.
The courier was given what the prosecution claimed was a code word used in the alleged money-laundering operation, on a scrap of paper and tore the paper into small pieces and stuffed them into his sock. A little later, he went to the toilet, but again wiped down every surface, including the bolt lock on the cubicle.
CCTV shown to the jury at James Stunt's trial showed a courier using his hat and a wrist to avoid putting his fingerprints on a bin liner of cash (left) as he lifted it and put it in a holdall (right)
At one point the courier tore up a note on a yellow piece of paper and stashed it in his sock
James Stunt with his girlfriend Helena Robinson outside Leeds Cloth Hall Court this morning
A photograph shared on Instagram of staff counting bundles of cash is also alleged to be incriminating evidence in a £266million money laundering trial against businessman James Stunt and his associates.
Stunt took 'a very hands-on approach' as his company became involved in a 'sophisticated' £266million money-laundering operation, prosecutors have claimed.
Mr Clarke QC said the picture was taken in the London offices of Stunt and Co in February 2016 and shows staff counting large amounts of ‘dirty’ cash. The man sat on the right in front of the counting machine is Stunt’s now dead brother Lee Stunt, who worked with him at the time and later died from a heroin overdose.
Tens of millions of pounds passed through his office before being collected by the security company G4S and the Post Office and deposited into the bank account of Bradford gold dealer Fowler Oldfield, Leeds Cloth Hall Court has heard.
More than £46million was sent back to Stunt and Co who spent more than £50million buying gold bars from a bank which was then turned into grains of gold and exported to Dubai, the court heard. It was part of a complex scheme to convert the proceeds of crime into untraceable gold, the jury was told.
Gregory Frankel, a Fowler Oldfield director and Vice-President of Stunt and Co, was allegedly sent the money-counting photo by colleague Alexander Tulloch with the comment ‘we have a logistics system in place!’ The court heard Frankel was heavily involved in the laundering operation, and delivered some cash himself. Another message sent to Frankel by another co-defendent, shown to court, said: 'James not happy though . . . James wants to know what his profit is for this week. Concerned about profitability etc'.
He was not paid a salary by Stunt for his role in the company but had use of his apartment in London and a Lamborghini car.
Heidi Buckler, 45, Gregory Frankel, 44, Paul Miller, 45, Haroon Rashid, 51, Daniel Rawson, 45, Francesca Sota, 34, James Stunt, 40 and Alexander Tulloch, 41, all deny money laundering. Stunt and Sota also deny forgery.
James Stunt's late sibling Lee Stunt (pictured right, seated) is one of the Stunt company staff counting allegedly laundered money in his brother's office in an image sent on WhatsApp and shown to the jury
CCTV shown to the jury shows cash being counted and then packaged up during an alleged £266million money-laundering operation
The former husband of Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone is one of eight defendants on trial over an alleged network which the court heard saw millions of pounds deposited in the bank account of Bradford gold dealer Fowler Oldfield over two years.
Prosecutors claim the 'criminal cash' was brought into business addresses owned or managed by Stunt and his co-defendants between January
