Jail threat for man who helped band fraudsters to launder money

Alan Wignall, 59, of Northcote Crescent, Holbeck, Leeds, allowed his bank account to be used after a professional gang of fraudsters targeted customer accounts at Alliance and Leicester.

Prosecutor Philip Adams told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that security details for six customer accounts were disclosed by a call centre worker.

Five of the compromised accounts were the subject of fraudulent fund transfers, but Mr Adams said the bank was able to recover the money in four of the cases.

The fifth transaction related to an account set up to deal with a deceased man’s estate and in June 2007 £295,000 was transferred into Wignall’s account.

Wignall had been recruited so his account could be used to launder the stolen money.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to defraud on the basis that he would have received around £30,000 for his role.

Former Leeds man Shazad Hussain, 36, now of Manchester, received just over £37,000 from Wignall. He admitted a charge of entering into a money laundering agreement.

A third man, who admitted handling a banker’s draft, had his sentence adjourned because he faces another charge in London.

Wignall was sentenced to 51 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.

Hussain, a married father-of-four, also had his six-month prison sentence adjourned for two years.